Table 2.
Characteristics of the included studies.
| Author, Year | Country, Period of Study | Type of Study | Sample Size | Main Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davies et al., 2012 [35] | Australia (period unknown) | Original article | 308,974 births (6163 after using ART; 302,811 after spontaneous conception) | High risk of birth defects after using ART |
| Luke et al., 2016 [36] | USA, 2004–2010 | Cohort study | 459,623 women (441,420 fertile, 8054 subfertile, and 10,149 IVF) | High risk of birth defects after using ART |
| Boulet et al., 2016 [37] | USA, 2000–2010 | Original article | 4,618,076 women (64,861 after using ART; 4,553,215 without the use of ART) | Increased incidence of certain birth defects in ART neonates |
| Iwashima et al., 2017 [38] | Japan (period unknown) | Original article | 2716 pregnant women (2317 in a(SC) group and 399 (AC) group) | No link between ART and CHD |
| Tatsumi et al., 2017 [39] | Japan, 2011–2013 | Original article | 2951 women (2267 natural cycles; 684 letrozole-induced cycles resulting in pregnancy after fresh-embryo transfer) | No link between offspring after OI with letrozole and CHD |
| Liberman et al., 2017 [40] | USA, 2004–2010 | Cohort study | 472,340 live births (17,829 births after using ART; 9432 births to subfertile mothers; 445,080 births to fertile mothers) | Risk of birth defects after using ART is low |
| Mussa et al., 2017 [41] | Italy, 2005–2014 | Original study | 379,872 live births (7884 after using ATR; 371,988 without the use of ART) | ART entails a 10-fold increased risk of Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome |
| Sene et al., 2018 [42] | Iran, 2007–2014 | Cohort study | 2009 women (1237 clomiphene citrate cycles; 772 letrozole cycles) | No link between offspring after OI and letrozole and CHD |
| Wen et al., 2020 [43] | Canada, 2012–2015 | Original study | 507,390 singleton or twin pregnancies (10,149 pregnancies assisted by ISI or IVF and 497,241 unassisted pregnancies) | No link between ART and CHD |
| Luke et al., 2021 [44] | USA, 2004–2013 | Original study | 1,236,016 children (135,051 after the use ART, 23,647 ART siblings, 9396 OI/IUI-conceived, and 1,067,922 naturally conceived) | ART is associated with increased risks of major non-chromosomal birth defects, cardiovascular defects, and any defect in singleton children and chromosomal defects in twins |
| Serafin et al., 2021 [45] | Poland, 2011–2016 | Original study | 1581 women (1298 pregnancies without the use of ART; 178 patients induced ovulation with clomiphene citrate; 137 women had intercourse naturally, 41 women AIH, 13 AID) | No link between ART and CHD and non-CHD |
ART, assisted reproductive techniques; IBF, in vitro fertilization; SC, spontaneous conception group; AC, assisted conception group; ISI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection; IVF, in vitro fertilization; IUI, intrauterine insemination; AIH, artificial insemination by husband; AID, artificial insemination by donor; CHD, congenital heart defect; non-CHD, non-congenital heart defect.