Uterine Fibroids Increase Stroke Risk: a Mendelian Randomization Study

Uterine fibroid, also called leiomyomas, is the most common tumor in women, affecting more than 70% of women over the age of 50. As a generally benign disease, the uterine fibroid can potentially contribute to female stroke through different pathological conditions. The relationship between uterine fibroids and stroke was occasionally reported in sporadic case reports. However, fibroids-related stroke still remains elusive at the population level. This study conducted Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate the risk of stroke (outcome) following uterine fibroid (exposure). Furthermore, through interrogating the largest clinically representative cohort of 521,612 participants, this study had sufficient power to detect the causality of uterine fibroid on different stroke subtypes, thus discovering the small vessel ischemic stroke (IS) as the most significant stroke subtype associated with uterine fibroids. In conclusion, this study explicitly indicates that uterine fibroids can causally increase the risk of stroke, rather than just a benign disease. This finding strongly suggests the importance of encompassing female populations in stroke studies and the investigation of fibroid-related stroke as a novel stroke subtype from animal models through clinical trials. HighlightsO_LIUterine fibroids can causally increase the risk of stroke, rather than just a benign disease. C_LIO_LISmall vessel ischemic stroke is the most significant stroke subtype associated with uterine fibroids. C_LI