Authors

Eli Westerlund, M.D., Ph.D., Lena Brandt, B.Sc., Outi Hovatta, M.D., Håkan Wallén, M.D., Anders Ekbom, M.D., Peter Henriksson, M.D.

Volume 102, Issue 4, Pages 1096-1102

Abstract

Objective:

To compare the incidence of hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes in women who have delivered after in vitro fertilization (IVF) with those who delivered after natural conception.

Design:

A cohort study in Sweden between 1990 and 2008.

Setting:

Sweden.

Patient(s):

23,498 women who had given birth to a child after IVF and 116,960 individually matched women.

Intervention(s):

None.

Main Outcome Measure(s):

Incidence rates of hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and coronary heart disease in both groups.

Result(s):

Inpatient and outpatient diagnoses of hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes were identified by linkage to the Swedish National Patient Register. The mean time of follow-up was 8.6 years in both groups. Multivariable analysis showed that hypertension had a higher incidence in IVF mothers with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13–1.41, as compared with mothers from the Medical Birth Register. There was a trend to a higher incidence of stroke (HR 1.27; 95% CI, 0.96–1.68), but the incidence of coronary heart disease and diabetes did not differ.

Conclusion(s):

Hypertension was more prevalent in the IVF group, which suggests that these women should be aware of their blood pressure and cardiovascular risk profile.

Read the full text at: http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(14)00570-6/fulltext