Is oocyte donation a risk factor for preeclampsia? A systematic review and meta-analysis

The objective of this meta-analysis is to determine whether there is a higher incidence of preeclampsia (PE) in pregnancies achieved by oocyte donation (OD) compared with pregnancies achieved by in vitro fertilization with autologous oocytes (IVF).

A systematic review was performed to identify relevant studies published from January 1994 until April 2015 with at least an abstract in English using PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, and clinicaltrials.gov. The 11 studies included in this systematic review were retrospective and prospective cohort studies of women reporting results on the association between oocyte donation vs. in vitro fertilization (exposure) and preeclampsia (outcome).

Oocyte donation is a risk factor for the development of PE compared to IVF cycles, with a weighted OR of 3.12 under a fixed effects method (FEM: no heterogeneity between the studies). The weighted OR under a random effects model was 2.9 (REM: heterogeneity between the studies). The meta-regression analysis showed that neither multiple pregnancies (estimate = 0.08; p = 0.19) nor patient age (estimate = -2.29; p = 0.13) significantly explained the variability of the effect of oocyte donation on PE. Q statistic was 12.78 (p = 0.237), suggesting absence of heterogeneity between the studies.

Pregnancies achieved by oocyte donation confer a threefold increase in the likelihood of developing PE than those achieved by in vitro fertilization with own oocytes. Physicians should be aware of this risk in order to both counsel patients and monitor pregnancies accordingly.