Dados do Trabalho

Title

RISKS OF CONGENITAL ANOMALIES IN ASSISTED REPRODUCTION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Objective

Evaluate the risks of congenital anomalies in assisted reproduction.

Methods

​​This is a systematic review using the PUBMED database, without restriction of dates and from the descriptor "malformation AND fertilization", in which 6,749 studies were obtained. Only articles in English were included, covering the theme of the risks of congenital anomalies in assisted reproduction through meta-analyses, which resulted in 69 studies. We excluded articles that did not use the methodology or used another language. Thus, after the selection, 12 articles relevant to the theme in question were included.

Results

Congenital anomalies are a group of structural or functional changes that occur in intrauterine life and can be detected before, during, or after birth. Malformations include structural, biochemical, chromosomal abnormalities, and genetic syndromes. Thus, it is important to evaluate the risks of these congenital malformations in the offspring of women who have undergone assisted reproduction techniques, in order to guide the next patients who will use these methods. Thus, from the analysis of the articles it was perceived a greater evidence of congenital malformations in artificial fertilization (IVF and ICSI) than in natural fertilization. However, when comparing the risks of malformations in babies after assisted reproduction, of any kind, there are still not enough studies to prove which has the greatest potential to develop malformations. However, even with the need for studies with better design to obtain more truthful results, it is clear that the most common malformations associated with assisted reproduction are urogenital, cardiovascular, ocular, auditory, cervical, musculoskeletal, respiratory, nervous, digestive and facial malformations, as well as cleft lip and palate.

Conclusion

Despite the need for more rigorous studies and more robust designs, the evidence points out that the risks of congenital malformations are higher in artificial fertilizations compared to natural methods, especially with regard to cardiovascular and genitourinary malformations, such as hypospadias and cryptorchidism.

Keywords

In vitro fertilization; infertility; malformations