Endometriosis, assisted reproduction technology, and risk of adverse pregnancy outcome

Olof Stephansson, Helle Kieler, Fredrik Granath, Henrik Falconer
Human Reproduction · 2009 · vol. 24(9) , pp. 2341–2347 · doi:10.1093/humrep/dep186 · PMID:19439428 · W2168030046
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 176 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This study found that endometriosis increases the risk of preterm birth, antepartal bleeding, pre-eclampsia, and Cesarean section, regardless of assisted reproduction technology use.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis, a common gynaecological disease, is characterized by local and systemic inflammation, which may cause infertility and consequently, increased utilization of assisted reproduction technology (ART). We aimed to estimate the risk for preterm birth, small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth, stillbirth, Caesarean section, pre-eclampsia and antepartal haemorrhage among women with a previous diagnosis of endometriosis compared with women with no previous diagnosis of endometriosis. METHODS: In a nationwide Swedish study including 1,442,675 singleton births we assessed the association between adverse pregnancy outcome, ART and a previous diagnosis of endometriosis. Information was obtained by linkage of data between 1992 and 2006 in the Medical Birth Register with the Patient Register between 1964 and 2006. RESULTS: There were 13,090 singleton births among 8922 women diagnosed with endometriosis. Compared with women without endometriosis, women with endometriosis had higher risks of preterm birth [adjusted odds ratio 1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.23-1.44]. Among women with endometriosis 11.9% conceived after ART compared with 1.4% of women without endometriosis. The risk of preterm birth associated with endometriosis among women with ART was 1.24 (95% CI, 0.99-1.57), and among women without ART 1.37 (95% CI, 1.25-1.50). Women with endometriosis had higher risks of antepartal bleeding/placental complications, pre-eclampsia and Caesarean section. There was no association between endometriosis and risk of SGA-birth or stillbirth. CONCLUSIONS: Endometriosis appears to be a risk factor for preterm birth, irrespective of ART. Women with endometriosis may be more likely to be delivered by Caesarean section and to suffer from antepartal haemorrhage/placental complications and pre-eclampsia.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Pregnancy Complications Pregnancy Outcome Reproductive Techniques, Assisted Cesarean Section Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Pregnancy Pregnancy Complications Pregnancy Complications Premature Birth Premature Birth Risk Risk Assessment Sweden Sweden

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (35)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-04T01:30:01.192114+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:14:05.573375+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK