Birth and perinatal outcomes and complications for babies conceived following ART

TY - JOUR

T1 - Birth and perinatal outcomes and complications for babies conceived following ART

AU - Henningsen, Anna-Karina Aaris

AU - Pinborg, Anja

N1 - Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2014/8

Y1 - 2014/8

N2 - Children born after assisted reproductive techniques (ART) have an increased risk of several adverse perinatal outcomes compared with their naturally conceived peers. This has various causes such as higher multiple birth rates, parental characteristics and higher maternal age, with more being nulliparous. Furthermore the in-vitro techniques, the controlled ovarian stimulation, culture media, and possibly additional freezing or vitrification procedures seem to play a role. However, when analyzing the perinatal trends over time, the differences between ART and naturally conceived children appear to have diminished. This is probably due to ART being more accessible and therefore couples have shorter duration of infertility before referral to ART; hence couples are nowadays less reproductively ill than in the past. A refinement of both clinical and laboratory skills during the past three decades of assisted reproduction may be another explanation. However, caution should be taken, as we do not yet know the full consequences of the observed increase in fetal growth and potential epigenetic changes in the early embryonic stages of fetal development.

AB - Children born after assisted reproductive techniques (ART) have an increased risk of several adverse perinatal outcomes compared with their naturally conceived peers. This has various causes such as higher multiple birth rates, parental characteristics and higher maternal age, with more being nulliparous. Furthermore the in-vitro techniques, the controlled ovarian stimulation, culture media, and possibly additional freezing or vitrification procedures seem to play a role. However, when analyzing the perinatal trends over time, the differences between ART and naturally conceived children appear to have diminished. This is probably due to ART being more accessible and therefore couples have shorter duration of infertility before referral to ART; hence couples are nowadays less reproductively ill than in the past. A refinement of both clinical and laboratory skills during the past three decades of assisted reproduction may be another explanation. However, caution should be taken, as we do not yet know the full consequences of the observed increase in fetal growth and potential epigenetic changes in the early embryonic stages of fetal development.

KW - Cryopreservation

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Infant, Low Birth Weight

KW - Infant, Premature

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Pregnancy Outcome

KW - Pregnancy, Multiple

KW - Premature Birth

KW - Reproductive Techniques, Assisted

U2 - 10.1016/j.siny.2014.04.001

DO - 10.1016/j.siny.2014.04.001

M3 - Review

C2 - 24840403

SN - 1744-165X

VL - 19

SP - 234

EP - 238

JO - Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

JF - Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

IS - 4

ER -