Associations of endogenous sex hormones with the vasculature in menopausal women (original) (raw)

Objective-As associations between endogenous sex hormones and the vasculature are not well characterized, the objective was to examine the cross-sectional associations of menopausal status and endogenous sex hormones with vascular characteristics. Design-Common carotid artery adventitial diameter and intima-media thickness were determined using B-mode ultrasound among 483 middle-aged women enrolled in the Pittsburgh and Chicago sites of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Results-Sixty-two percent of women were pre-or early perimenopausal (<3 months amenorrhea), 12% were late perimenopausal (3-12 months amenhorrhea), and 27% were