Menopause and accelerated aortic stiffness.

Background: The menopausal transition is widely believed to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, based on the notion that estrogen is cardioprotective in women. While aortic stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease, it has been unclear whether this risk increases during menopause.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the association between changes in menopausal status and aortic stiffness.

Association of change in fat and lean mass with incident cardiovascular events for women in midlife and beyond: A prospective study using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Objective: To determine whether changes in fat and lean mass over time, quantified using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), are related to incident cardiovascular events. Previous studies using surrogate anthropometric methods have had inconsistent findings.

Study Design: Prospective, longitudinal observational study of women aged 40 to 80 randomly selected from the electoral roll and stratified into decades: 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70-79 years.

Comparison of obesity and metabolic syndrome prevalence using fat mass index, body mass index and percentage body fat.

Background: Accurate obesity classification is important so that appropriate intervention can be instituted to modify metabolic risk factors. Commonly utilized body mass index (BMI) and percentage body fat (PBF) are influenced by lean mass whereas fat mass index (FMI) measures only body fat. This study compares the prevalence of obesity and metabolic risk factors with FMI, BMI and PBF using DXA (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry).

A 5-year longitudinal study of changes in body composition in women in the perimenopause and beyond.

Objective: Most studies of the age-related changes in body composition are cross-sectional in design: there have been few longitudinal studies. The aim of this 5-year study was to document body composition changes in perimenopausal and older women.

Study Design: Prospective, longitudinal observational study.

Carotid ultrasound pulsatility indices and cardiovascular risk in Australian women.

Introduction: Ultrasound-acquired internal carotid arterial (ICA) pulsatility indices (PI) have been demonstrated to be useful measures of cerebrovascular disease. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between carotid artery PI, cardiovascular risk and ischaemic heart disease in aging women.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-eight female participants of the Longitudinal Assessment of Ageing in Women study, aged 48-85 years, were evaluated.

Towards validation of use of an Australian reference database for the diagnosis of osteoporosis with DXA.

Introduction: Bone densitometry in Australia uses the data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study for conversion of bone mineral density (BMD) to T-scores to diagnose osteoporosis based on the World Health Organization (WHO) classification criteria. An underlying assumption is that the bone status of women in Geelong city is representative of the rest of Australia. The aim of this study is to compare the prevalence of normal BMD, osteopenia and osteoporosis of sample Brisbane women to Geelong, and to assess the validity of the Geelong reference database for Australia-wide application.

Age-related changes in heart function by serial echocardiography in women aged 40-80 years.

Aim: To determine if a defined set of echocardiographic parameters at entry and exit of a longitudinal study over 5 years showed changes with aging.

Methods: The cohort consisted of 484 randomly recruited women aged 40-80. They were examined by two echocardiography cardiologists, independent of the medical information for these women.

Psychometric properties and health correlates of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory in Australian community-residing older women.

Objective: To assess the psychometric properties and health correlates of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in a cohort of Australian community-residing older women.

Method: Cross-sectional study of a population-based cohort of women aged 60 years and over (N = 286).

Results: The GAI exhibited sound internal consistency and demonstrated good concurrent validity against the state half of the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory and the neuroticism domain of the NEO five-factor inventory.

Effect of lifestyle factors and hormone therapy on heart function by serial echocardiography in postmenopausal women.

Background: There is conflicting information on the effects of oestrogen on the heart in women, especially those using postmenopausal hormone therapy. Whilst some studies reported a beneficial effect, others showed adverse outcomes. The interplay of lifestyle factors and type/timing of therapy remains to be clarified.

Persistence and malignant sequelae of gestational trophoblastic disease: Clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment and outcome.

Background: The major concern in gestational trophoblastic disease is management of persistent disease and malignant sequelae. However, prediction of response to treatment is difficult and methods used controversial.

Aim And Methods: To evaluate the usefulness of clinical presentation, methods of diagnosis and categorisation of risk in determining clinical outcomes, by analysis of a database of 705 registered patients collected over 30 years.

Analysis of risk factors for persistent gestational trophoblastic disease.

Setting: Persistent disease is a serious consequence of molar pregnancies. Its early detection is critical to effective chemotherapy. Therefore, determination of risk becomes an important clinical decision.

The obstructed hemivagina, ipsilateral renal anomaly, uterus didelphys triad.

The triad of obstructed hemivagina, renal anomaly and uterus didelphys is an uncommon cause of abdominal pain and menstrual discomfort in adolescent girls. Accurate diagnosis and surgical treatment can be delayed for several months or even years. Adolescent girls presenting with these symptoms should have a baseline pelvic ultrasound scan to establish uterine anatomy.

Age-related changes relevant to health in women: design, recruitment, and retention strategies for the Longitudinal Assessment of Women (LAW) study.

Objectives: The primary aim was to assess the age-related changes that occur in older women. This paper describes the study rationale and methods, recruitment, and retention strategies.

Methods: The Longitudinal Assessment of Women (LAW) Study was a longitudinal, observational, and multidisciplinary evaluation of a population-based cohort of urban-living women, aged between 40 and 80 years at recruitment and randomly invited from a district in Brisbane (a city in Australia) via the electoral roll.

Hormones down under: hormone therapy use after the Women's Health Initiative.

Aims: The primary objective was to describe the usage pattern of hormone therapy (HT) in a sample of urban Australian women in 2001 and to assess the characteristics of users vs. non-users. The second objective was to determine whether there had been any change in usage since the publication of the results of the combined oestrogen plus progestagen arm of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) in 2002.

A medical management of interstitial ectopic pregnancy: a 5-year clinical study.

Background: Medical treatment of the rare interstitial ectopic pregnancy with methotrexate has been considered an alternative to surgical resection.

Aim: To determine the treatment success rate with a single-dose intravenous methotrexate/folinic acid regimen and to identify predictors of treatment outcome.

Methods: A 5-year audit (April 2000-August 2005) was carried out, collecting clinical imaging data and serum beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin (beta-hCG).

The influence of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy on cognitive functioning: results from an observational study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) upon memory deficit in a group of urban Australian women.

Participants And Setting: A cohort of 493 women aged 40-80 years was tested as part of the Longitudinal Study of Ageing in Women (LAW study) at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.

Main Outcome Measures: The current memory functioning of participants was evaluated using the Wechsler Memory Scale - version three (WMS-III) while pre-morbid cognitive functioning was estimated from scores on the National Adult Reading Test (NART).

Clinical aspects of gestational trophoblastic disease: a review based partly on 25-year experience of a statewide registry.

Background: Gestational trophoblastic disease is a fascinating group of pregnancy disorders characterised by abnormal proliferation of trophoblast, ranging from benign to malignant. Because the disease is uncommon, there is a need to formulate management with the assistance of collective information.

Methodology: A review of available information from English written literature was undertaken, especially data reported by registries around the world (Charing Cross Hospital in England, the North-western University and the New England area in the USA as well as our own experience in Queensland, Australia).