Incidence and anatomy of cardiac malformations in children conceived by assisted reproduction techniques - A review

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the occurrence of cardiac malformations occurred in children conceived by assisted reproduction techniques (ART) in the international literature in Medline database from 1999 to 2012. The search returned data on 32,000 births, whose 21,000 were conceived naturally and 11,000 were conceived by ICSI and/or IVF. The incidence of cardiac malformations in general population situations was 0.4%. The incidence of cardiac malformations by ART was 1.8% from ICSI and IVF. Among the situations of conceived naturally was observed 88 cases of cardiac malformations, which were: Atrial Septal Defect: 26 cases 29.55%, Change in the interventricular septum: 18 cases 20.45%, coarctation of the aorta: 13 cases 14.77%, aortic stenosis: 11 cases 12.5%, tetralogy of Fallot: 5.68% 5 cases, stenosis of the pulmonary trunk: 5 cases 5.68% other: 11.37% 10 cases. In cases of cardiac malformations in children conceived by IVF and ICSI, 198 cases were found, which were: CIA: 58 cases 29.30%, Change in the interventricular septum: 37 cases 18.69%, coarctation of the aorta: 20 cases 10.10%, aortic stenosis: 18 cases 9.09%, tetralogy of Fallot: 11 cases 5.55%, stenosis of the pulmonary trunk: 6 cases 3.03%, Other: 48 cases 24.24%. There remain opened questions about infertility and risk factors involving ART. Further research is clearly required. Health care providers should counsel infertile couples seeking assisted reproduction by IVF and technology.

The Periconceptional Environment and Cardiovascular Disease: Does In Vitro Embryo Culture and Transfer Influence Cardiovascular Development and Health?

“…A recent study reported the incidence of cardiac malformations using different search terms related to cardiac malformations and/or ARTs in the Medline database for the years 1999 to 2012. The search returned data on 32,000 births (21,000 naturally conceived; 11,000 conceived through ART) [ 216 ]. Cardiac malformations occurred in 1.8% (198 cases) of births conceived through ART compared to 0.4% (88 cases) of births in the general population [ 216 ].…”

“…The search returned data on 32,000 births (21,000 naturally conceived; 11,000 conceived through ART) [ 216 ]. Cardiac malformations occurred in 1.8% (198 cases) of births conceived through ART compared to 0.4% (88 cases) of births in the general population [ 216 ]. Comparing the incidence of specific forms of cardiovascular disorders from a total of 11,000 pregnancies in ART children and 21,000 pregnancies in naturally conceived (NC) children respectively, there were 58 cases (0.53%) of atrial septal defect in ART vs. 26 cases (0.12%) in NC, 37 cases (0.34%) of changes in the interventricular septum in ART vs. 18 cases (0.09%) in NC, 20 cases (0.18%) of coarctation of the aorta vs. 13 cases (0.06%) in NC, 18 cases (0.16%) of aortic stenosis in ART vs. 11 cases (0.05%) in NC, 11 cases (0.10%) of tetralogy of Fallot in ART vs. 5 cases (0.02%) in NC, 6 cases (0.05%) of stenosis of the pulmonary trunk in ART vs. 5 cases (0.02%) in NC and 48 cases (0.44%) of other non-specified cardiac defects in ART and vs 10 cases (0.05%) in NC.…”

“…Comparing the incidence of specific forms of cardiovascular disorders from a total of 11,000 pregnancies in ART children and 21,000 pregnancies in naturally conceived (NC) children respectively, there were 58 cases (0.53%) of atrial septal defect in ART vs. 26 cases (0.12%) in NC, 37 cases (0.34%) of changes in the interventricular septum in ART vs. 18 cases (0.09%) in NC, 20 cases (0.18%) of coarctation of the aorta vs. 13 cases (0.06%) in NC, 18 cases (0.16%) of aortic stenosis in ART vs. 11 cases (0.05%) in NC, 11 cases (0.10%) of tetralogy of Fallot in ART vs. 5 cases (0.02%) in NC, 6 cases (0.05%) of stenosis of the pulmonary trunk in ART vs. 5 cases (0.02%) in NC and 48 cases (0.44%) of other non-specified cardiac defects in ART and vs 10 cases (0.05%) in NC. [ 216 ]. These data suggest that compared to natural conception, there is an increased risk of cardiovascular malformations in children conceived through ART.…”

Fertility Preservation

“…Many are the reasons why a woman might wish to postpone pregnancy, including finding the right partner, pursuing education and career opportunities, or dealing with unexpected medical conditions. (Taitson et al ., 2014)…”