Infertility treatments and cyanotic congenital heart defects among livebirths in the USA: findings from a contemporary cohort.

This article examines the association between infertility treatments—including assisted reproductive technology (ART) and other non-ART infertility treatments—and the risk of cyanotic congenital heart defects (CCHD) among singleton livebirths in the USA from 2016 to 2022. Using data from the National Vital Statistics System covering over 9.5 million births, the study found that infertility treatment was associated with approximately a twofold increase in the odds of CCHD compared to natural conception, with no significant difference between ART and non-ART treatments. The association remained robust after adjusting for multiple maternal and paternal factors and accounting for potential biases, though the findings are limited to livebirths and cannot establish causality. These results highlight the importance of prenatal screening, such as fetal echocardiography, for pregnancies conceived via infertility treatments and underscore the need for further research on specific treatment types and underlying mechanisms.