Cardiac performance in relation to age of onset of menopause

It is well known that post menopausal women are more prone to cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and cancer. This study was done to detect the effect of early onset of menopause on the cardiac performance in postmenopausal women. The cardiac functions were evaluated by the noninvasive technique of measuring systolic time intervals (STI) in the form of total electromechanical systolic time (OS2), left ventricular ejection time (LVET), pre-ejection period (PEP) and PEP/LVET ratio. The study included 50 postmenopausal women with age at the onset of menopause ranging from 29 years to 55 years, divided into three groups I, II and III with mean age at onset of menopause being 36.80 +/- 2.97, 43.97 +/- 2.97 and 52.05 +/- 1.61 years, respectively. In group I, there was a highly significant increase in QS2, PEP and PEP/LVET ratio and in group II, there is a significant decrease in LVET with a highly significant increase in PEP and PEP/LVET ratio. This signifies asymptomatic and subclinical cardiac systolic dysfunction in groups I and II as compared to group III. Early onset of menopause could thus be considered as a risk factor for increased cardiovascular morbidity; hence efforts should be made to timely detect and prevent these diseases in the postmenopausal stage.