Birth Defects a Concern with Fertility Technique

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children conceived by an assisted reproduction technique called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) do not have delayed or abnormal development, a study shows. However, they do appear to be at higher risk for birth defects.

ICSI involves the direct injection of a sperm into an egg, by manipulation under a microscope. "Since its introduction in 1992, ICSI has become a very successful and increasingly popular treatment modality in the management of male-factor infertility," Singapore-based clinicians write in the medical journal BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"However, concerns persist regarding neurodevelopmental outcome and congenital malformations," Dr. Pratibha Agarwal from KK Women and Children's Hospital and colleagues note in the article.

Agarwal's group looked at these two issues in 76 children conceived by ICSI and 261 matched "naturally conceived children."

Development and function were similar in the two groups, the investigators report.

However, the rate of minor congenital malformations was significantly higher in the ICSI group than in the control group, at 16 percent compared to 6.5 percent. The rate of major malformations also seemed to be higher in the ICSI group at 7.9 percent vs 2.7 percent.

The risk of congenital malformations with ICSI "needs to be evaluated further in larger studies," the research team concludes.

SOURCE: BJOG, October 2005.