Women who give birth after fertility treatment face a 99 percent higher risk of being hospitalised for heart disease in the year after delivery, compared to those who conceive naturally.
Fertility treatment has been associated with greater rates of pregnancy complications, previously (see BioNews 1134). Prior research looking into the correlation between fertility treatment and heart disease has been inconclusive, but this observational study of over 31 million births showed that fertility treatment was associated with higher risk of hospitalisation for a number of cardiovascular conditions.
Dr Rei Yamada, an obstetrics and gynecology resident at Rutgers Medical School in New Jersey and lead author of the study, said: 'Looking forward, I'd like to see if different types of infertility treatment and, importantly, medications are associated with different risk levels.'
'Our data gave no information about which patients had undergone which treatment. More detailed information might also provide insight into how infertility treatment impacts cardiovascular outcomes.'
Authors of the study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine did not look at the reasons for the correlation, but noted that increased heart disease risk was associated with different conditions that are associated with infertility. For example, endometriosis is found in 25-50 percent of women experiencing infertility, and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease over their lifetime. People with PCOS have an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, which is also associated with cardiovascular disease.
The findings came from a retrospective analysis of patients, focusing on women aged 15-54 who delivered in hospitals between 2010 and 2018 in the US. Researchers analysed 31 million hospital records from the Nationwide Readmissions Database which contains diagnostic codes, allowing researchers to find patients who had undergone infertility treatment and identify reasons for subsequent readmission.
Researchers found 550 of every 100,000 women who conceived after fertility treatment and 355 of every 100,000 who conceived naturally, were hospitalised with heart disease in the year after giving birth. The US-based cohort study of over 31 million births also showed women who conceived after fertility treatment faced over twice the risk of hospitalisation for high blood pressure, with risk increasing progressively in the 12 months following birth.
The study authors hope their findings highlight the need for careful monitoring post-partum and management of cardiovascular health in women receiving infertility treatments to mitigate these risks, as the majority of the risk of heart disease arose within the first month after delivery.
Additionally, the study assessed the impact of some confounding factors including maternal age, co-morbidities and socioeconomic status, but does not break down the data by race, or by maternal obesity. Both are factors which could influence the outcomes of the study.
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