Results of faster trial: ART fetuses not at higher risk for anomalies.(Obstetrics)

NEW ORLEANS -- Singletons conceived through artificial reproductive technology do not have an increased risk of a chromosomal anomaly or fetal malformation, compared with singletons conceived naturally. Dr. Tracy Shevell said at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

Mothers who undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF), however, are at an increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preeclampsia, premature labor, placental abruption, and placenta previa, according to a secondary analysis of the First and Second Trimester Evaluation of Risk for Aneuploidy (FASTER) trial.

The FASTER trial is a National Institutes of Health--sponsored study conducted at 15 major medical centers across the United States to compare the results of first- and second-trimester aneuploidy screening. More than 38,000 women with singleton pregnancies were screened using nuchal translucency measurement and serum markers in the first trimester and quad screening in the second trimester.

Only 4.9% of women in the FASTER study group conceived their fetuses by means of artificial reproductive technology (ART); 3.4% (1.222 fetuses) were conceived after ovulation induction (OI), and 1.5% (540 fetuses) were conceived using IVF, Dr. Shevell of Columbia University, New York, said in a poster presentation at the meeting.

The rates of aneuploidy in the naturally conceived fetuses and the ART fetuses were the same (0.4%). There were no significant differences in the rates of any abnormal prenatal findings, postpartum congenital abnormalities, cardiac or noncardiac abnormalities, or any abnormal tissue findings

When OI and IVF pregnancies--with or without intracytoplasmic insemination (ICSI)--were compared with naturally conceived pregnancies, OI pregnancies had an increased risk of placenta previa (odds ratio 2.4) and an infant weighing less than 2,500 g (1.6). Pregnancies conceived after IVF (with or without ...