Growth and development of children born after in vitro fertilization
Received 1 June 2007; received in revised form 3 September 2007; accepted 4 September 2007. published online 03 January 2008.
Objective
To evaluate growth and development of children born after IVF treatment.
Design
Literature review.
Conclusion(s)
At present there is substantial evidence that children born after IVF are at increased risk for adverse perinatal outcome, congenital malformations, and rare epigenetic defects. It is still unclear whether observed health problems originate from the IVF procedure itself or the underlying subfertility problems of the parents. Current follow-up studies regarding postnatal growth and morbidity rates are scarce with conflicting results and other areas of long-term research in children born after IVF are still in its infancy. The importance of the worldwide continuing monitoring of children born after IVF to investigate potential long-term consequences including the development of cardiovascular diseases is therefore highlighted.
aDepartment of Paediatrics, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Neuroscience, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
bDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
cDepartment of Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Reprint requests: Mirjam M. van Weissenbruch, M.D., Ph.D., VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands (FAX: +31 20 4442422).
ABSTRACT