Test-tube baby treatment risk warning
Friday January 28th, 2011
A leading obstetrician has called for better information about the risks of IVF treatment and improved identification of high risk women.
Dr Susan Bewley, of King’s College, London, and colleagues said although IVF pregnancy in the UK was very safe, deaths may reflect a wider problem of serious illness.
Writing on the British Medical Journal online, she said although deaths of women through IVF were rare, it still represents a key risk to older women, those with multiple pregnancy and those with underlying disease.
Serious adverse outcomes related to IVF treatment, such as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome <!-when a woman is overdosed with fertility drugs>, should be systematically reported so that lessons can be learnt and appropriate action taken, said Dr Bewley.
A recent study from the Netherlands revealed that overall mortality in IVF pregnancies was higher than the maternal death rate in the general population in the country. There were about 42 mothers' deaths per 100,000 IVF pregnancies, compared with six deaths per 100,000 pregnancies overall.
And in the last UK Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Death, four deaths were recorded that directly related to IVF via ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and three deaths related to multiple pregnancy after IVF, Dr Bewley warns.
It means there were more deaths related to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome than to abortion (two), despite the fact there were 48,829 IVF cycles compared with 198,500 abortions in the UK in 2007, say the authors.
They also warn that IVF-associated maternal deaths may be underestimated because of confidentiality restrictions under the Human Fertilisation Act.
“More stringent attention to stimulation regimens, pre-conceptual care, and pregnancy management is needed so that maternal death and severe morbidity do not worsen further,” conclude the authors.
British Medical Journal January 28 2011
Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Europe | Women’s Health & Gynaecology
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