IVF Using Frozen Embryos can Cause Pregnancy-related Hypertension

Pre-eclampsia is characterized by pregnancy-related hypertension. It can cause damage to some internal organs, including the liver and kidneys. In vitro fertilization using frozen embryos can increase the risk of this condition in pregnant women.

Frozen embryos used in the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) process could cause blood pressure problems in pregnant women, found a new research. Recent studies reported that frozen embryos outperform fresh embryos and also have safety advantages. The current research says some of its risks, although they do not outweigh the benefits.

Several studies have observed the risks of pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy-related disorders in women who got pregnant from frozen embryos. Still, Dr. Sylvie Epelboin from the Hospital Bichat-Claude Bernard said, "Only a few studies have compared the maternal vascular morbidities with the two hormonal environments that preside over the early stages of embryonic development."

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‘Women who underwent hormone therapy for IVF using frozen embryos showed a higher rate of pre-eclampsia (5.3%) when compared to the IVF procedures that used fresh embryo transfers (2.4%).’

Pre-eclampsia is a serious health condition characterized by gestational hypertension. It can cause damage to some internal organs, including the liver and kidneys.

The research was conducted in the interests of the Mother & child health network of the French Biomedicine Agency. For this, data of almost 70,000 pregnancies delivered after 22 weeks gestation between 2013 and 2018 from the French national IVF registry have been used.

The pregnancies were categorized into three groups: those derived from frozen embryo transfer in a natural "ovulatory" cycle (9500), those from frozen embryo transfer with hormone replacement therapy (10,373), and conventional fresh transfers (48,152).

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While analyzing the medical history, they found that

• The rate of pre-eclampsia was higher in the women who underwent hormone therapy (5.3%) when compared to the pregnancies with a natural "ovulatory cycle" (2.3%) and pregnancies where conventional fresh embryo transfers have been taken place (2.4%).

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• This relationship between IVF using frozen embryos and pregnancy-induced hypertension was significant even after adjusting for some factors like age, obesity, history of other health conditions like diabetes, endometriosis, and premature ovarian failure.

Dr.Sylvie Epelboin presented the findings at the online annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).

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Source-Medindia