High blood pressure and pre-eclampsia risk raised in egg-donation pregnancies

Using donated eggs in fertility treatment increases the risk of complications,
according to a study of 580 IVF patients in France.

The research showed that women who used donor eggs in their
treatment were four times more likely than women using their own eggs to get pre-eclampsia, a mostly benign but occasionally serious condition characterised
by high blood pressure (hypertension) and protein in the urine.

Dr Hélène Letur from the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris in
Paris, who presented the study at a fertility conference, said: 'This study
confirms several other reports in the literature, with a large sample and
matched control group. We would have to conclude from the results that egg
donation itself is a risk factor for pregnancy-induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia'.

Overall, 18 percent of the 217 women who became pregnant with
donated eggs developed hypertension compared with five percent of women
pregnant after 'normal' IVF. The risk of pre-eclampsia after IVF with donated
eggs was 11 percent, increased from three percent in other patients.

Because women who use donated eggs tend to be older, it was
not previously known whether the increased complications seen in these
pregnancies were a result of age. The study looked at French patients because
egg donation in the French social security system is restricted to women under
43, many of whom required donated eggs due to premature menopause. In fact, increased
patient age produced only a small increase in risk. There was no significant
effect on hypertension risk from previous pregnancies, previous IVF cycles or
the use of preserved embryos.

Dr Letur urged patients and obstetricians to be aware of
potential risks in egg donation: 'Preventive measures and care are necessary,
with screening for risk factors for hypertension such as obesity and diabetes
and early treatment'.

The authors suggest that immune system incompatibility
between the mother and the genetically unrelated embryo may be behind the
increased risk, but did not test this hypothesis in the study.

Egg donation can be used in IVF for women who, because of
their age or a medical condition, no longer produce viable eggs of their own. The
procedure is becoming increasingly common and in the USA accounts for 12
percent of all IVF treatments.