Acute myocardial infarction associated with Yasmin oral contraceptive.

The new third-generation contraceptive Yasmin (30 µg ethinylestradiol and 3 mg of drospirenone; Bayer Schering Pharma Kenilworth NJ) has been available on the market in all of the European Union countries since the year 2000. This contraceptive has certain characteristics that differentiate it from others because it has a lower estrogen component in its composition compared with previous oral contraceptives. It has also been suggested that it has a lower risk of thrombosis than other oral contraceptives. This is because interim results from Scherings postmarketing surveillance study of 1 million cycles showed that after 1 year 1 episode of venous thrombosis occurred among Yasmin users compared with 5 episodes among users of other oral contraceptives This opinion is not shared by other authors however who state that despite this difference at the chemical level there is no difference in thrombosis risk with the risk being very similar: 60 per 100 000 cases of deep vein thrombosis a year inwomen who take Yasmin compared with 60 to 73 per 100 000 cases a year in women who take other older contraceptive pills. Although different cases of thromboembolism have been reported in patients taking Yasmin no report has been published about Yasmin and myocardial infarction. (excerpt)