Efficacy of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Women with Liver Disease, with Tatyana Kushner, MD, BSCE

Women with liver disease experiencing impaired fertility may benefit from treatment with assisted reproductive technology, with findings from a retrospective study showing similar in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and pregnancy outcomes among patients with and without liver disease.

The study included women with liver disease who underwent IVF, embryo biopsy for genetic testing, and embryo cryopreservation at a high-volume fertility practice from 2002 to 2021, as well as a subanalysis of patients who subsequently underwent a single embryo transfer with a thawed euploid embryo. Women without liver disease who received assisted reproductive technology treatment due to male factor infertility were additionally enrolled in the study as controls.

The final study population included 115 women with liver disease who underwent 186 IVF cycles and 624 control patients who underwent 868 IVF cycles with embryo biopsy for genetic testing. Compared to the control group, patients with liver disease had a significantly lower number of oocytes retrieved (12.3 vs 16.5; P < .05), number of mature oocytes (9.1 vs 12.6; P < .05), number of fertilized embryos (7.0 vs 9.9; P < .05), number of embryos biopsied (3.4 vs 5.1; P < .05), and number of euploid embryos (1.6 vs 2.7; P < .05).

Despite these differences, investigators observed similar mature oocyte rates, fertilization per mature oocyte rates, and embryo ploidy rates between the liver disease and control groups. Of note, liver disease was not found to be significantly associated with any of these outcomes on univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses.

Investigators pointed out similar trends for single embryo transfer, with no significant differences in rates of clinical pregnancy (70.3% vs 65.5%; P = .55), clinical pregnancy loss (7.1% vs 8.8%, P = .76), or live birth (64.9% vs 58.6%, P = .45) observed between liver disease and control patients. Again, liver disease was not found to be significantly associated with any of these outcomes.

For further insight into the study’s results and their clinical significance, the editorial team of HCPLive Hepatology sat down with Tatyana Kushner, MD, BSCE, associate professor of medicine in the division of liver diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Brooks, A. Assisted Reproductive Technology Outcomes Unaffected By Presence of Liver Disease. January 3, 2024. Accessed January 4, 2024. https://www.hcplive.com/view/assisted-reproductive-technology-outcomes-unaffected-by-presence-of-liver-disease