Pregnancy Outcomes Associated with Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Infertile Women

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and adverse outcomes using population-based data in the United States. The hypothesis is that patients with OHSS were more likely to deliver preterm and more likely to have hypertensive disorders. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study identified 94 patients with OHSS and 183 matched referents in eight counties in Minnesota. Data were collected regarding pregnancy history, infertility treatment, and pregnancy outcomes. Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, study subjects were identified from female patients, aged 18 to 49 years, who were diagnosed with infertility from January 2, 1995 to December 1, 2017, and had a pregnancy greater than 20 weeks' gestation. The primary outcome was preterm delivery or hypertensive disorder of pregnancy incidence in the OHSS group when compared with control patients. Chi-squared test, t test, and multivariate logistic models were used where appropriate. RESULTS: Patients with OHSS were more likely to deliver preterm (odds ratio, 2.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.26–3.65; P < 0.01), and their neonates were more likely to be small for gestational age (odds ratio, 4.78; 95% confidence interval, 1.61–14.19; P < 0.01). No significant differences between the groups were observed in any other outcome. Patients with OHSS are more likely to deliver preterm if they undergo fresh transfer compared with a freeze all and subsequent frozen transfer (odds ratio, 3.03, 95% confidence interval, 1.20–7.66, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: OHSS may lead to preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age neonates, which changes patient counseling and leads to arranging specialized obstetrical care for these patients with OHSS.