Background/Aim
To evaluate and stratify early cardiovascular risk of transsexuals who underwent pharmacological and/or surgical gender reassignment.
Methods
Fifty‐six transsexuals were divided into two groups: group 1 – underwent gonadectomy (orchiectomy for transwomen and hystero‐annessiectomy for transmen); group 2 – hormone replacement therapy alone. All participants underwent carotid artery intima‐media thickness (C‐IMT) and flow‐mediated vasodilation (FMD) of brachial artery evaluations.
Results
FMD was lower in patients who had undergone gonadectomy compared with non‐surgically treated patients (Group 1: 5.711 vs Group 2: 7.339, P < 0.0001). Mean C‐IMT was higher in group 1 than group 2 (group 1: 0.733 vs group 2: 0.582). The duration of hormone therapy correlates positively with mean C‐IMT (B = 0.001) and negatively with FMD (%) (B = − 0.007).
Conclusions
Cardiovascular risk, which is expressed in terms of endothelial (FMD) and morphological (C‐IMT) dysfunction, increases in subjects undergoing gonadectomy compared with those receiving cross‐sex reassignment therapy alone.