[Monitoring neurodevelopment in children born as a result of using assisted reproduction techniques]

In recent years a number of publications have reported a higher incidence of congenital defects or chromosome abnormalities linked to conventional in vitro fertilisation (IVF), and some other publications have suggested that intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may have a negative influence on neurodevelopment. AIM. To determine whether there were any differences in the medical development and the neurodevelopment of children conceived using conventional IVF techniques and those conceived using ICSI techniques.

Our sample consisted of 17 babies born after IVF (nine males and eight females) and 40 infants born after ICSI (23 males and 17 females). All of them were the result of pregnancies induced by IVF and ICSI achieved in the assisted reproduction service at our hospital and followed up by the same team of obstetricians and specialists in maternal-foetal medicine. At the chronological age of 24 months all the patients were submitted to a paediatric examination and a neuropsychological examination. The examination was performed in one single session. Neurodevelopment was evaluated specifically by means of the Bayley scales of infant development.

The health and neurodevelopment of infants from conventional IVF and from ICSI in our study were similar to those of the general population at the age of two years. ICSI proved to be as safe as conventional IVF as regards the children's medical and cognitive progression.