[Outcome of 470 pregnancies after artificial insemination with frozen sperm]

This article describes the outcome of the pregnancies conceived after AID with frozen semen in the Tours CECOS Centre between January 1st 1988 and December 31st 1986. There were 487 (including multiple pregnancies). These have been compared with a control group and with the national study conducted by INSERM in 1981. The study of the literature allows comparisons. The rate of pregnancies not resulting in a living child is not significantly different from the control series (abortions 11.4%, ectopic pregnancies 1% and in utero fetal deaths 0.4%). Pregnancies that continued: the rate of multiple pregnancies was higher (2.7%). There were more cases of bleeding (6.8% compared with 2.4%), more hypertensions (13.3% compared with 11.6%) and the same rate of premature labour (9.4%) as in the control group. The Caesarean section rate (22% as against 6%) was higher. The rate of forcepts delivery was lower (9.2% as against 12.8%). Concerning the children we found more premature babies (15.8% versus 5.6%) but no difference in the sex ratio, their height-weight as against their term, their Apgar score, morbidity or number or type of malformations (3.4%).

the quality of the children is about the same with the proviso that the group is too small to conclude about the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities.