Comparative follow-up study of 130 children born after intracytoplasmic sperm injection and 130 children born after in-vitro fertilization

The safety of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as a novelprocedure of assisted fertilization may be assessed by the healthof the children born. In a prospective followup study of childrenborn after assisted procreation, 130 children born consecutivelyafter ICSI were compared with 130 control children born afterin-vitro fertilization (IVF). In both groups, mothers were matchedfor age and had the same standard treatment protocol. Therewere 74 singleton, 50 twin and six triplet children in eachgroup. Prenatal karyotyping and ultrasound screening, physicalexamination at birth and developmental milestones, with a follow-upat 2 months and 1 year, were recorded. Prenatal karyotypes wereobtained in 100 of the 130 children in the ICSI group comparedwith 22 of the 130 children in the matched IVF group. All karyotypeswere normal except for one prenatally detected mosaicism, whichwas not confirmed at birth. Four major malformations were detectedin the ICSI group (holoprosecencephaly, femur fibula ulna syndromeand palatoschisis in two children), compared with six in thematched IVF group (coarctation of the aorta, palatoschisis,hypospadias, unilateral cryptorchidism, soft tissue syndactilyand ll--hydroxylase deficiency). In the ICSI and IVF groups,mean ± SD birth weights were 2.94 ± 0.67 and 2.80± 0.73 kg, lengths were 48.46 ± 3.56) and 47.47± 5.78 cm, and head circumferences were 33.79 ±2.20 and 31.19 ± 8.88 cm respectively. Among the ICSIsingletons, the mean ± SD birth weight was 3.28 ±0.58 kg and among the twins it was 2.60 ± 0.43 kg; forthe IVF singletons and matched twins the mean ± SD birthweights were 3.19 ± 0.56 and 2.36 ± 0.61 kg respectively.In conclusion, there was no difference in the paediatric follow-upof 130 children born after ICSI and 130 children born afterconventional IVF in age-matched control patients.