Two cases of thromboembolic disease associated with oral contraceptives

Abstract

Two cases are reported of thrombotic or thromboembolic disease occurring in women who had been taking oral contraceptive drugs. The first case presented as haemoptysis and pleurisy. The clinical and radiological course was one of multiple pulmonary infarcts responding to anticoagulant therapy after a severe and potentially fatal illness. There was no obvious peripheral source for emboli and no previous history of thrombophlebitis. She had taken “conovid “for one month for contraceptive purposes. Case 2 had a thrombophlebitis in the veins of the left leg with several short episodes of chest pain and dyspnoea suggestive of pulmonary embolism. She had a history of previous attacks of thrombophlebitis following late puerperal venous thrombosis in the left leg in 1959. She had been given “enavid” for menstrual disturbance. The only other feature common to both cases was that they had suffered from rheumatic fever in childhood, but there was no evidence of cardiac sequelae. © 1962, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.