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Dr. Lauren Amos Receives Award to Study Treatment of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Adolescents

STORIES

Dr. Lauren Amos Receives Award to Study Treatment of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Adolescents

Headshot of Lauren E Amos, MD
Lauren E Amos, MD
Associate Director, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine; Education Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Kansas School of Medicine
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Lauren E. Amos, MD, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, was recently awarded a one-year, $50,000 research funding agreement from Cascade Hemophilia Consortium.

Dr. Amos’ “Combination Therapy in Adolescents to Treat Heavy Menstrual Bleeding-Review of Charts to Observe Treatment Patterns” (also called COMBATT HMB-RECON) project will collect treatment data for heavy menstrual bleeding in adolescent females with bleeding disorders. The study will evaluate the use of combined oral contraceptive pills and the medication tranexamic acid.

Although common, heavy menstrual bleeding in females can be a cause of emotional distress, adverse mental health outcomes and decreased quality of life. While oral contraceptives and tranexamic acid may be used either individually or in combination to treat the condition, there is no consensus on the standard of care and a lack of information on the effectiveness of the treatment approaches. In addition, safety concerns remain about the risk of blood clots when combining estrogen and tranexamic acid.

In her research study, Dr. Amos will evaluate the effectiveness of treating heavy menstrual bleeding in adolescents who have inherited bleeding disorders. She will also evaluate the safety of using oral contraceptives and tranexamic acid and the risk of blood clots, or thromboembolism.

“This retrospective study is the first step to providing much-needed evidence on the effectiveness of treating heavy menstrual bleeding with oral contraceptives and tranexamic acid to reduce first-line treatment failure and improve the mental health for girls with heavy menstrual bleeding and bleeding disorders,” says Dr. Amos.