Assessing the risk of venous thromboembolism in trans masculine persons on gender-affirming hormone therapy: A literature review.

OBJECTIVE

This review aimed to synthesize recent data on venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk in the context of masculinizing hormone therapy with testosterone.

METHODS

An electronic search was performed in MEDLINE/PubMed without date restrictions. Eligible articles were peer-reviewed observational and interventional studies and had to be written in English. Results are presented by theme of analysis.

RESULTS

Most recent large-scale studies investigating trans masculine populations have not found a statistically significant change in the risk of VTE. However, most of the available data relate to younger individuals with minimal cardiovascular risk factors. For patients with a personal or family history of VTE, the introduction of testosterone therapy should be discussed within a multidisciplinary team specializing in transgender health, balancing the risk-benefit ratio in a population where the risk of suicide is high and is largely reduced by gender-affirming hormone therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of the studies did not found a significant change in the risk of venous thromboembolism in trans masculine persons taking testosterone. However, data are limited, and further robust studies are warranted to clarify these data and to generalize these results to higher veinous thromboembolic risk groups.