Maternal Risk of Cardiovascular Disease After Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Cardiovascular Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) use is increasing globally.
• Long-term health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, after ART are not well-established.
• Limited studies and follow-up duration hinder understanding of ART's impact on long-term health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between giving birth after ART and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD).
• To compare CVD risk in individuals who conceived via ART versus those who conceived naturally.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale, registry-based cohort study utilized nationwide data from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden (1984-2015).
• Included over 2.4 million individuals with registered births, with 97,474 having given birth after ART.
• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk was assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for multiple covariates.

Main Results:

• Over a median follow-up of 11 years, no increased risk of overall cardiovascular disease (CVD) was observed in individuals who gave birth after ART (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 0.97; 95% CI, 0.91-1.02).
• No significant differences in risks for ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, stroke, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, pulmonary embolism, or deep vein thrombosis were found.
• A modest reduction in myocardial infarction risk was observed (AHR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.65-0.99), with no significant heterogeneity between countries.

Conclusions:

• Giving birth after assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) over an 11-year median follow-up.
• The findings suggest ART is not linked to higher CVD risk in the medium term.
• Longer-term investigations are recommended to fully understand the relationship between ART and cardiovascular health.