Outcomes of preterm infants conceived with in vitro fertilization

Objectives To determine if there is increased risk of prematurity-related complications for in vitro fertilization (IVF)conceived preterm infants compared to matched controls. Study Design Cohort study of 23-34 weeks' preterm infants from 329 US NICUs discharged from 2009 to 2016. Each IVF patient was matched to three controls. Results We identified 6,756 IVF-conceived preterm infants who were matched with 20,268 controls. IVF-conceived infants had no increase in non-respiratory morbidities but had significantly higher rates of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (8.4% vs 7%, p < 0.001) and significantly greater exposure to common chronic respiratory medications. Conclusions In this large cohort of IVF-conceived preterm infants we found similar outcomes to controls with the exception of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and respiratory medication exposure. Further research is needed to explore the influence of in vitro fertilization on the development of neonatal respiratory disease.