Study finds greater risk for eclampsia in women who used assisted reproductive technology

An analysis of 10.9 million live births in the United States showed that women who used assisted reproductive technology had a greater risk for eclampsia.

“Recent studies have shown that the use of assisted reproductive technology, otherwise known as ART, is associated with an increased risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy,” Adriana Facchiano, a medical student at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, said during a virtual presentation at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting.

To identify a relationship between assistive reproductive technology and eclampsia, Facchiano and colleagues conducted a retrospective case control study of live births in the U.S. from 2016 to 2018 using the CDC’s natality database. Among the study population, 10,822,842 patients (mean age, 28.8 years; African American, 15.63%) did not use assisted reproductive technology and 122,090 (mean age, 35.59 years; African American, 5.57%) did.

The data showed that eclampsia was noted in 581 patients who used assistive reproductive technology and in 27,785 patients who did not use it, with an OR of 1.86 (95% CI, 1.71-2.02). The odds persisted when researchers controlled the analysis for maternal age; BMI; race; comorbidities, including chronic hypertension and pre-gestational diabetes; pre-gestational smoking; multiple order births; number of prenatal visits; and health insurance. The adjusted OR was 1.53 (95% CI, 1.4-1.67).

“Despite increased vigilance noted in many of these pregnancies, ART is a significant risk factor for eclampsia,” Facchiano said. “Obstetricians should be aware of this clinical finding. Further studies are needed to determine the biological plausibility.”