Freeze-thaw embryo transfer safe for women with hepatitis B virus infection
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Key takeaways:
- No significant differences were reported in live birth between women who were seropositive for hepatitis B virus vs. those who were not.
- Women with HBV infection can safely undergo freeze-thaw embryo transfer.
Maternal hepatitis B virus serostatus was not associated with pregnancy outcomes in infertile women in China who underwent freeze-thaw embryo transfer, according to data in JAMA Network Open.
“Infection with HBV has been linked to a higher risk of miscarriage and preterm birth in natural pregnancies,” Ling-Ling Ruan, MD, of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, and colleagues wrote. “However, its effects on assisted reproductive technology, especially freeze-thaw embryo transfer, are uncertain.”
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With limited data on the association between HBV infection and pregnancy outcomes in freeze-thaw embryo transfer (FET), researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of women who underwent their first FET between January 2018 and April 2021.
Participants were stratified into three groups: those who were hepatitis B surface antigen-positive and hepatitis B e antigen-negative (group A), those who were HBsAg and HBeAg-positive (group B) and those who were HBsAg and HBeAg-negative (group C).
The primary studied outcome was live birth, while secondary outcomes included biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, early and late miscarriage, and preterm delivery of a child younger than 37 weeks.
After addressing baseline differences, researchers matched 642 women in group A vs. 2,565 women in group C, 151 in group B vs. 600 in group C and 480 in group A vs. 146 in group B. They noted partial duplication among groups, with no differences in age, BMI, infertility type or cause of infertility.
Results showed no statistically significant differences in live birth among groups A vs. C (OR = 1.13; 95% CI, 0.95-1.34), groups B vs. C (OR = 1.12; 95% CI, 0.78-1.6) or groups A vs. B (OR = 1.25; 95% CI, 0.86-1.82). Researchers reported similar results for all secondary outcomes.
“Our study confirms that maternal HBV serostatus is not associated with pregnancy outcomes in infertile women undergoing FET,” Ruan and colleagues concluded. “However, HBV infection was significantly correlated with miscarriage and preterm birth during natural pregnancy.”
They continued: “These findings suggest that women with HBV infection can safely undergo FET, which may reduce the psychological burden of infertile couples with HBV.”
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