Differences in congenital anomalies in unassisted conception vs. in vitro fertilization in dichorionic-diamniotic
Hannah S Foster1, Meaghan G McCabe1, Nathaniel Koelper1
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of congenital anomalies in dichorionic-diamniotic twins conceived with in vitro fertilization (IVF) vs. unassisted conception pregnancies in a large geographically diverse population.
Design:
This is a secondary analysis of data from a retrospective cohort study of twin pregnancies seen at 17 centers between December, 2011-February, 2020.
Subjects:
This study included dichorionic-diamniotic twins conceived unassisted, or by in vitro fertilization.
Exposure:
The exposure group is dichorionic-diamniotic twins conceived with IVF.
Main Outcome Measure:
The primary outcome was presence of a congenital anomaly. Neonates with an abnormal newborn examination were evaluated for having a major or minor congenital anomaly and the major anomalies were further classified by organ system (cardiac, renal/genitourinary, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal).
Results:
Of the 968 dichorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancies included, 521 (53.8%) were conceived with IVF and 447 (46.2%) were conceived unassisted. Congenital anomalies were found in 70 pregnancies (7.23%). Of those, 37 were found in pregnancies conceived by IVF (52.9%) vs. 33 unassisted conception pregnancies (47.1). There were no significant differences between IVF and unassisted conception pregnancies for major anomalies or minor anomalies.
Conclusion:
In this large cohort of twin pregnancies, there is no significant difference in the incidence of anomalies for dichorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancies conceived by IVF vs. unassisted conception pregnancies.
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