FED: Genetic disorder prevelant in IVF babies: study

AAP General News (Australia)
08-09-2004
FED: Genetic disorder prevelant in IVF babies: study

By Tara Ravens

SYDNEY, Aug 9 AAP - Children born by in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) are about five times
more likely to develop a rare genetic growth disorder, an Australian study has found.

Presented today at the Genetics and Population Health conference in Fremantle, the
study was conducted by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne.

It was based on a sample of 37 babies born in Victoria between 1983 and 2003, all of
whom were diagnosed with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS), a rare disease that causes
babies to overgrow.

The study found that the syndrome affected one in 400 children born through IVF.

Other research has found the general prevalence of the syndrome ranges from one in
35,000 to one in 15,000.

Affected babies are often large at birth, many have abdominal wall defects, large organs,
prominent eyes and an oversized tongue and mouth.

Infancy can be a critical period for babies with the disorder because of low blood
sugar and an increased rate of tumour development but the symptoms are treatable and the
syndrome is not life threatening.

IVF Australia clinician Dr Ric Porter said although the results were of some concern
to IVF clinicians the issue required more extensive research.

Dr Porter said the study "rang a few alarm bells" but he thought it unlikely the results
would dissuade any of the desperate couples that walk through his door.

"I believe the risk is so small and the benefits so great that prospective parents
should be informed of it but I don't think it would colour their decisions," he said.

"I think we are interfering with natural selection and that is why we have been able
to make these great advances over the years - but this may come at a small price."

The Victorian research has confirmed the findings of three overseas studies conducted
last year, said Director of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute Professor Bob Williamson.

But Prof Williamson said the study did not prove that IVF was dangerous and could be
better used to understand genetic imprinting, or why IVF babies are more likely to be
born prematurely.

"I want to see IVF as safe as normal conception - and anything we can do to understand
the process will enable us to make IVF safer," he said.

"More study is required, not only to guarantee the health of these babies, but also
because it will give us clues about how genes are switched on and off after conception."

AAP tr/kbw/hu/bwl

KEYWORD: IVF

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