Vascular, Obstetric Risks Higher for Women Conceiving With ART

TUESDAY, Feb. 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Women who conceive with assisted reproductive technology (ART) have a higher risk for vascular complications and adverse obstetric outcomes compared with women who conceive without ART, according to a study published online Feb. 22 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Pensée Wu, M.B.Ch.B., M.D., from Keele University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined patient characteristics, obstetric outcomes, vascular complications, and temporal trends of pregnancies conceived by ART using data from the U.S. National Inpatient Sample database for hospital deliveries conceived with or without ART between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2016. Data were included for 106,248 deliveries conceived with ART and 34,167,246 conceived without ART.

The researchers observed an independent association for ART-conceived pregnancies with vascular complications (adjusted odds ratios, 2.52 and 1.65 for acute kidney injury and arrhythmia, respectively) and adverse obstetric outcomes (adjusted odds ratios, 1.57, 1.38, and 1.26 for placental abruption, cesarean delivery, and preterm birth, respectively); this association was also seen in subgroups without risk factors for cardiovascular disease or without multifetal pregnancies. Compared with women who conceived without ART, hospital charges were higher for women who conceived with ART (median, $18,705 versus $11,983).

"Especially patients with existing cardiovascular risk factors should be counseled about the potentially long-term cardiovascular implications and risks associated with ART," Wu said in a statement. "It's important for women to know that assisted reproductive technology carries a higher risk for pregnancy complications, which require close monitoring, particularly during delivery."

Abstract/Full Text