Obstetric, neonatal and child development outcomes following assisted hatching treatment: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Assisted hatching (AH) involves artificial disruption of the zona pellucida prior to embryo transfer. The purpose of this study is to examine the safety of AH technique and its effect on obstetrical, perinatal and neonatal outcomes and risk of developmental delay.

This is a retrospective cohort of ART cycles using laser AH technique. The study group consisted of 120 cases of AH cycles resulting in singleton pregnancies and live births compared with 113 control cases. A current phone questionnaire was conducted to assess child development in the first year of life. AH was not associated with increased risk for all obstetrical and perinatal outcomes examined including PPROM, gestational diabetes, hypertensive diseases of pregnancy, delivery by cesarean section, gestational age at delivery, low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth and neonatal Apgar score (p>.05). No significant differences were observed between AH and control group in rates and risk of congenital malformations (5.8 vs. 4.4%, respectively, OR 1.33, 95% CI 0.41–4.34) and developmental delay (19.2 vs. 12.8%, respectively, OR 1.62, 95% CI 0.74–3.52). AH did not increase the risk of obstetrical and neonatal complications in singleton pregnancies, including congenital malformations and child developmental delay. AH may therefore be considered a safe method of ART.

摘要

辅助孵化（AH）是指在胚胎移植前人工破坏透明带。这项研究的目的是探究AH技术的安全性及其对产科, 围产期和新生儿结局以及发育延迟风险的影响。这是一项使用激光AH技术的ART周期的回顾性队列。研究包括120例单胎妊娠并活产的AH周期病例组, 另113例为对照组。目前进行了电话问卷调查, 以评估婴儿出生后第一年的发育情况。 AH与调查的所有产科和围产期结局风险增加无关, 包括PPROM, 妊娠糖尿病, 妊娠期高血压疾病, 剖宫产, 分娩胎龄, 低出生体重（LBW）, 早产和新生儿Apgar评分（p > .05）。 AH组与对照组相比, 先天性畸形的发生率、风险（分别为5.8 vs. 4.4％, OR 1.33, 95％CI 0.41–4.34）和发育延迟（分别为19.2 vs. 12.8％, OR 1.62, 95％CI 0.74–3.52）之间没有显著差异。在单胎妊娠中, AH并不会增加产科和新生儿并发症的风险, 包括先天性畸形和儿童发育迟缓。因此, AH可被视为辅助生殖治疗的安全方法。

Keywords:

• Assisted hatching
• in vitro fertilization
• obstetrical outcomes
• child development
• congenital malformations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).