A prospective controlled study of karyotyping for 430 consecutive babies conceived through intracytoplasmic sperm injection

Objective: To compare the karyotype of babies conceived through ICSI with that of naturally conceived babies. Design: Prospective controlled study. Setting: The Egyptian IVF-ET Center, Cairo, Egypt. Patient(s): Four hundred and thirty babies conceived through ICSI and 430 babies conceived naturally. Intervention(s): ICSI and karyotyping. Main Outcome Measure(s): Abnormal karyotype. Result(s): Four hundred and thirty consecutive babies conceived through ICSI who were delivered in one hospital had 15 abnormal karyotypes (3.5%). Of the 15 babies, 7 were of female phenotype and 8 of male phenotype. Six babies had sex chromosome anomalies, 8 had autosomal anomalies, and 1 had combined sex chromosome and autosomal anomalies. A control group of 430 consecutive babies conceived naturally who were delivered in one hospital had no abnormal karyotype. The difference between the two groups was significant (P<.001). Conclusion(s): ICSI carries a small but significant increased risk of abnormal karyotyping to the offspring. This risk appears to be equally distributed between autosomal and sex chromosome anomalies. © 2001 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.