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More than half of U.S. women who undergo hysterectomies at 40 or older also undergo concomitant bilateral oophorectomies (BLOs). To evaluate the health consequences of BLO at hysterectomy, investigators focused on 29,000 Nurses’ Health Study participants who had undergone hysterectomies for benign disease (56% with BLO; the others with ovarian conservation).
At 24-year follow-up, incidences of breast and ovarian cancers were lower in women who underwent BLO than in those who did not (34 and 40 fewer cases per 100,000 woman-years, respectively). However, incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) was higher with BLO (44 additional cases). Deaths from all causes occurred more frequently after BLO (121 additional deaths per 100,000 woman-years),…