Study finds an increased risk of pregnancy and vascular complications among women who conceived using common infertility treatments.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 48 million reproductive-aged couples suffer from infertility. As a result, many couples turn to assisted reproductive technology (ART) to conceive. These include several infertility treatments such as pills to induce ovulation, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). However, a recent study has found that infertility treatments may increase a woman’s risk of vascular and pregnancy-related complications.
The researchers at American Heart Association compared more than 106,000 births conceived through ART and over 34 million births conceived without infertility treatments. According to the analysis, women that opted for ART had an average age of 35 years. Whereas women in the other group had an average age of 28 years. The study further revealed 2.5 times higher risk of acute kidney failure and a 65% higher risk of arrhythmia in women using infertility treatments. Moreover, they had a 57% greater risk of placental abruption, 38% increased risk of Cesarean delivery, and a 26% higher risk of preterm birth.
A huge majority of women using ART also had preexisting cardiovascular conditions. However, a similar increase in pregnancy complications occurred in women without any such risk factors.
We were surprised that assisted reproductive technology was independently associated with these complications, as opposed to being associated with only the existence of pre-existing health conditions or only among older women undergoing infertility treatment.
Dr. Pensée Wu, study author
The study failed to account for the different fertility treatments, their length and the time between treatments. Therefore, one cannot conclude whether certain treatments increase the risk further. Nevertheless, it highlights the need for proper counselling of women wishing to use ART, especially those with cardiovascular risk factors.
Reference:
Wu, Pensée, et al. “In‐Hospital Complications in Pregnancies Conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technology.” Journal of the American Heart Association, 2022, doi:10.1161/jaha.121.022658.
