Dense breasts, stroke risk, and more

Contemporary OB/GYN week in review: Dense breasts, stroke risk, and more

Thank you for visiting the Contemporary OB/GYN® website. Take a look at some of our top stories from last week (Monday, May 26, 2025 – Friday, May 30, 2025), and click each link to read and watch anything you may have missed.

In a recent interview with Contemporary OB/GYN, Fiona Gilbert, MA, MB, professor of radiology at the University of Cambridge, discussed the implications of dense breast tissue on breast cancer risk and detection.

Women with dense breasts—characterized by higher amounts of glandular tissue compared to fatty tissue—face a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer. Dense breast tissue is more common in younger women and tends to decrease with age, particularly after menopause. However, it poses a significant challenge for cancer detection because dense tissue can obscure tumors on standard mammograms, making early diagnosis more difficult.

To address this limitation, some countries supplement mammography with additional imaging techniques, particularly for women known to have dense breasts. Approximately 40% of postmenopausal women fall into this category.

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The risk of cryptogenic stroke in young women is increased 3-fold by the use of combined oral contraceptives, according to a recent study presented at the European Stroke Organization Conference 2025.

This data is supported by prior research about the impact of hormonal contraception on vascular risk in reproductive-aged women. However, this is one of the first studies to evaluate risk factors of cryptogenic stroke in this population.

“What’s particularly notable is that the association remains strong even when accounting for other known risk factors, which suggests there may be additional mechanisms involved – possibly genetic or biological,” said Mine Sezgin, MD, lead study author from the Department of Neurology at Istanbul University.

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A daily 150 mg dose of aspirin is more effective at inhibiting thromboxane B2 (TbxB2) compared to a 75 mg dose, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

A higher serum SA maximum concentration (Cmax) and AUC were noted following the 150 mg dose vs the 75 mg dose, with median Cmax of 3.03 μg/ml and 1.56 μg/ml, respectively, and median AUCs of 16.68 μg ∗h/ml and 6.8 μg ∗h/ml, respectively. Both aspirin doses led to higher serum SA concentrations at 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 hours post-administration.

Baseline serum TbxB2 concentrations did not significantly differ between groups, ranging from 0.49 ng/ml to 118.08 ng/ml. However, serum TbxB2 concentrations rapidly declined following the administration of either a 75 mg dose or a 150 mg dose. The 150 mg dose led to a larger reduction, with a mean of 95.4% in the 150 mg group vs 79.1% in the 75 mg group over 19 hours.

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A self-collected (SC) cervical cancer screening device is easy to use and preferred to a clinician-collected (CC) sample, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.

SC had an absolute clinical sensitivity of 95.8% for CIN2+, with a relative sensitivity of 1.00 compared with CC. For cervical intraepithelial lesion grade 3 or higher, these values were 96.6% and 0.97, respectively.

When evaluating the cervix and vagina after use of the SC device, clinicians only identified 2 adverse events linked to the device. This included a minor cervical abrasion event and a spotting after collection event. The device had high user comprehension, with 92.3% of patients indicating easy or very easy understanding.

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Mild breast tenderness and swelling are expected before the next period among women with a normal menstrual cycle, according to a recent study by the University of British Columbia.

In cycles with Subclinical Ovulatory Disturbances (SOD), the median Breast Tenderness Score was 3, vs 6 in normally ovulatory cycles. Additionally, the score for breast size changes was 4, and these changes lasted a median 4 days per cycle. Normal ovulatory cycles presented with significant increases in breast size and its duration vs SOD cycles.

Breast swelling scores were 4 and 4, respectively, while days of breast enlargement were 5 and 3, respectively. When assessing ovulation status within-women, median Breast Tenderness Scores were 5.9 and 5.7, respectively, while breast tenderness scores were 1.24 vs 1.21, respectively, with durations of 4.5 vs 4.3 days, respectively.

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