Growth and development of children conceived by intracytoplasmic sperm injection at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.

ABSTRACT

A number of concerns have been raised about children conceived by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In this study, 75 babies in the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital ICSI programme were determined during pediatric follow-up to assess the growth, development and congenital malformations from April 1997 to December 2000. Male to female ratio was 11.27. Mean birth weight for singletons was not different from the general population. Thirty six per cent of the babies weighed less than 2,500 g, which was almost four times higher than naturally conceived babies. Approximately 27 per cent of deliveries were multiple pregnancies compared to 0.93 per cent from natural conception. Prematurity rate was 25 per cent and 85.7 per cent of deliveries were carried out by caesarian section. One baby (1.3%) had major congenital malformation and 37 babies (49.3%) had one or more minor defects. Most of the babies had weight, height, and head circumference within normal ranges. After correction for gestational age, all the premature babies caught up growth within the first year of life. Eleven babies (14.7%) had abnormal or questionable results or Denver II at different ages. Longer-term follow-up is necessary to properly assess the growth and developmental outcome of the ICSI babies.