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No difference in IVF success rates in IPAA vs non-IPAA patients
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ORLANDO, Fla. – A Mayo Clinic researcher said here at Digestive Disease Week that a patient who has undergone ileal pouch-anal anastomosis should not be discouraged from seeking to become pregnant.
Sunanda V. Kane, MD, professor of medicine, division of gastroenterology and hepatology, Mayo Clinic, presented unpublished data on the success of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in patients with or without an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) who are infertile.
In 10 patients who had undergone IPAA and 16 patients with ulcerative colitis but who did not have a pouch, there was no difference found in mean time to conception in years (1.5 IPAA patients vs 1.8 non-IPAA, P=0.674); no difference in primary fertility (50 vs. 56, P=0.92) or secondary fertility (50 vs. 44, P=0.92). In addition, the pregnancy rate (50 vs. 56, P=0.85) was similar.
After her extensive literature, Dr. Kane reiterated, “It is active disease, it’s surgery and fear that drives most of the fertility issues, not medications. We are talking about fertility, not fecundity, so our IBD patients can get pregnant, and it may take some help from the scientists, but you shouldn’t be necessarily discouraging your patients from trying to have families.”
Kane SV. Sp206: Fertility and Pregnancy in IBD (3220). Presented at: Digestive Disease Week; May 18-21, Orlando, Fla.
Disclosure: Kane reports numerous financial disclosures, including Abbott Laboratories; Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Shire; and UCB Pharma, Inc.