The Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 19 Pandemic on Early Pregnancy Outcomes Among Patients Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization Treatment

• Published in: Women's Health Reports Vol. 2; no. 1; pp. 473 - 478
• Main Authors: Aharon, Devora, Gounko, Dmitry, Lee, Joseph A, Copperman, Alan B, Flisser, Eric
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 01.10.2021; Mary Ann Liebert
• Subjects: Coronavirus; COVID-19; early pregnancy; miscarriage; Original; Original Article; pregnancy loss; COVID-19; Coronavirus; pregnancy loss; miscarriage; early pregnancy
• ISSN: 2688-4844; 2688-4844
• DOI: 10.1089/whr.2021.0054

Objective: To determine if pregnancy rates (PRs) or pregnancy loss rates (PLRs) were altered in patients undergoing single, euploid frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) during the initial peak of the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study performed in a single academic center. Patients undergoing single, euploid FET cycles from January to May 2017–2020 were included. Cycles with FET performed in January–May of 2020 (“COVID-surge cohort”) were compared to cycles with FET performed in January–May of 2017–2019 (“pre-COVID cohort”). Pregnancy rate (PR), clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), pregnancy loss rate (PLR), and clinical pregnancy loss rate (CLR) were compared between the cohorts. Results: A total of 2629 single, euploid FET cycles were included: 2070 from January to May, 2017–2019 and 559 from January to May 2020. PR was similar when comparing FET performed from January to May 2020 (COVID-surge) to those performed from January to May, 2017–2019 (pre-COVID) (77.6% vs. 73.7%, p  = 0.06), while CPR was higher among the COVID-surge compared to the pre-COVID cohort (65.5% vs. 60.0%, p  = 0.02). No differences were seen in PLR and CLR among the COVID-surge and pre-COVID cohorts (28.3% vs. 32.0%, p  = 0.08; 15.0% vs. 16.5%, p  = 0.50). PR, CPR, PLR, and CLR were similar when comparing individual months between the cohorts. Adjusted analysis showed no differences in PR, CPR, PLR, or CLR when comparing the cohorts overall or when comparing corresponding individual months in the two time periods. Conclusion: PRs and PLRs were not decreased when SARS-CoV-2 transmission was widespread in our geographic area, suggesting that high COVID-19 transmission does not compromise early pregnancy outcomes.