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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on August 26, 2006
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/del333
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received April 3, 2006
Revised July 7, 2006
Accepted July 11, 2006

Article

Epilepsy and febrile seizures in children of treated and untreated subfertile couples

Yuelian Sun 1 *, Mogens Vestergaard 2, Jakob Christensen 3, Jin Liang Zhu 2, Bodil Hammer Bech 2, and Jørn Olsen 4

1 The Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark; Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, Shanghai, China
2 The Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
3 Department of Neurology and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
4 The Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, LA, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Yuelian Sun, E-mail: ys{at}soci.au.dk


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: Only few studies have addressed the long-term neurological outcomes of children born by subfertile couples. We studied the risk of epilepsy and febrile seizures in children of treated and untreated subfertile couples. METHODS: The study included 83 194 live singletons born by mothers who took part in the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC). Information on time to pregnancy (TTP) and infertility treatment was reported by the mothers in computer-assisted telephone interviews. Data on epilepsy and febrile seizures were extracted from the Danish National Hospital Register. RESULTS: Overall, children of subfertile couples (TTP > 12 months) had a 51% higher risk of epilepsy [incidence rate ratio (IRR): 1.51; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.17-1.94] compared with children of couples with a TTP of 0-5 months. The corresponding estimates were 1.71 (95% CI: 1.21-2.42) if the couples had received infertility treatment and 1.38 (95% CI: 1.00-1.89) if they conceived spontaneously. Children of subfertile couples did not have a higher risk of febrile seizures except for those who received hormonal treatment (HT) with or without intrauterine insemination (IRR = 1.37; 95% CI: 1.14-1.66). CONCLUSIONS: Children of subfertile couples had a slightly increased risk of epilepsy, and the risk tended to be higher for children of couples who received infertility treatment. Whether this reflects side effects of treatment or severity of subfecundity is not known.

Keywords: artificial reproduction technology/epilepsy/febrile seizures/infertility.
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