Objective: To investigate the possibility that children born after ICSI were at increased risk for neurodevelopmental delay.
Design: Retrospective case-control study.
Setting: IVF clinic.
Patient(s): Fifty-eight singleton children born after ICSI and 38 normally conceived singleton children (controls), matched for relevant sociodemographic characteristics, from Australia and 208 case-patients and 221 controls from the United Kingdom.
Main outcome measure(s): Antenatal and perinatal, and sociodemographic characteristics; physical health, including congenital abnormalities; and neurodevelopment by using the Griffiths scales of mental development.
Result(s): Eighty-five percent of case-patients and 96% controls were assessed at a mean age of 13 months. Neurodevelopmental scores were similar in all children. Perinatal outcome was similar, apart from more caesarean sections in the case-patients. Rates of congenital anomalies were similar (5.6% among case-patients vs. 5.7% among controls). Children from fathers with oligozoospermia showed no extra problems. Children born after ICSI in the United Kingdom and Australia were similar.
Conclusion(s): Children conceived after ICSI did not differ from their naturally conceived peers in physical health or development at ages up to 15 months.