Twenty-Four Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Offspring Conceived Through Assisted Reproductive Technologies

One in fifty infants is conceived through assisted reproductive technologies (ART). To date, data on the cardiovascular morbidity of ART individuals is ambiguous. This study investigated the vascular function of young ART subjects using 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24 h ABPM).

ART subjects and spontaneously conceived controls matched in age as well as sex were enrolled. A 24 h blood pressure profile including pulse wave analysis was executed in all study participants. Blood pressure readings were assessed every 15 min during daytime and every 30 min during nighttime. The 24 h systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) as well as central blood pressure, nocturnal blood pressure decrease, and 24 h pulse wave velocity (PWV) were analyzed.

A total of 41 ART individuals and 46 spontaneously conceived peers were included in the final analysis (mean age: 15.37 ± 5.46 years vs. 16.48 ± 5.23 years, p = 0.338). The 24 h SBP (112.74 ± 9.24 mmHg vs. 112.73 ± 6.70 mmHg, p = 0.997), 24 h DBP (65.61 ± 7.98 mmHg vs. 66.57 ± 7.03 mmHg, p = 0.550), 24 h central blood pressure, nocturnal blood pressure decrease, and 24 h PWV did not demonstrate significant differences between the ART and control group.

In contrast to previous studies, no significant differences in 24 h blood pressure were demonstrated between ART subjects and spontaneously conceived peers. Hence, the results of this study do not indicate an unfavorable blood pressure profile in ART offspring. Larger multi-centric studies are needed to validate these results in the future.