Congenital heart diseaseCohort study
Congenital heart defects in children born after assisted reproductive technology: a CoNARTaS study
- Registry-based cohort study
- multinational (Nordic national registries)
- multivariable logistic regression
Authors' conclusion
Assisted reproductive technology-conceived children have a higher prevalence of major CHDs, being rare, but severe conditions. The absolute risks are, however, modest and partly associated with multiple pregnancies, more prevalent in ART.
Study context
- Population
- All liveborn children in Denmark (1994–2014), Finland (1990–2014), Norway (1984–2015) and Sweden (1987–2015)171,735 after assisted reproductive technology (ART)
- Participants
- 7,747,637 children
- Exposure
- ART vs spontaneous conception
- ARTn = 171,735
- Outcome
- Major CHDs (also severe CHDs, 6 hierarchical CHD lesion groups, 10 selected major CHDs)
- Follow-up
- Prenatally or up to 1 year of age (Denmark, Finland, Sweden); prenatally or at birth (Norway)
Main finding
Major CHDs
Adjusted odds ratio
1.36
95% CI 1.31–1.41
Events by group
ART vs SC
adjusted OR 1.36 (95% CI 1.31–1.41)
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | ART | SC | adjusted OR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Severe CHDs | 0.35% | 0.26% | 1.30 (1.20–1.42) | |
| 0.512Adjusted odds ratio (log scale) |
Major congenital heart defects (CHDs) by plurality
- Risk highest in multiples, regardless of conception method
Major CHDs by ART method
- Risk similar between ICSI and IVF and between frozen and fresh embryo transfer
Original publication
Congenital heart defects in children born after assisted reproductive technology: a CoNARTaS study. Eur Heart J. Published 26 September 2024. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehae572
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it