Physical health at 5.5 years of age of term-born singletons after intracytoplasmic sperm injection: results of a prospective, controlled, single-blinded study.
OBJECTIVE
To study the health of children born after ICSI and of spontaneously conceived control children at the age of 4-6 years.


METHODS
Prospective, controlled, blinded study.


METHODS
Tertiary-care center.


METHODS
Two hundred seventy-six term-born singletons conceived by ICSI and 273 matched spontaneously conceived singletons at the age of 5.5 years.


METHODS
Detailed physical examination, interview of the parents, and collection of data from each child's examination booklet.


METHODS
Biometrical data; current health status; acute, chronic and childhood illnesses; hospitalizations; and surgeries.


RESULTS
Detailed physical examination did not reveal any relevant differences between ICSI and spontaneously conceived children. There were no relevant differences regarding the incidence of childhood illnesses, acute or chronic illnesses, accidents, and surgeries up to the age of 5.5 years. However, a history of undescended testicles was found significantly more often in boys born after ICSI (5.4% vs. 0.7%), with the consequence that they had significantly more urogenital surgery (19.2% vs. 8.9%). Significantly more ICSI children had been hospitalized (37.6% vs. 27.2%), although we did not find any specific reason for the increased hospitalization rate.


CONCLUSIONS
Other than an increased risk of undescended testicles and therefore an increase in urogenital surgeries in ICSI boys, the physical health of ICSI children was comparable to that of spontaneously conceived children at the age of 5.5 years.
Ludwig
Annika K
AK
Department of Prenatal Medicine, Endokrinologikum Hamburg, Lornsenstr.4-6, 22767 Hamburg, Germany. a.k.ludwig@web.de
Katalinic
Alexander
A
Thyen
Ute
U
Sutcliffe
Alastair G
AG
Diedrich
Klaus
K
Ludwig
Michael
M
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003456:Cryptorchidism / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005858:Germany; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*