June 11, 2012

expert reaction to study linking IVF with relapse in MS patients

A small study published online in The Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry suggested in vitro fertilisation (IVF) was linked to an increased rate of relapse among women with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Prof Adam Balen, Chair of the British Fertility Society Practice and Policy Committee and Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said:

“This small study suggests an increased rate of relapse of MS in the few months following IVF treatment that appears to be greatest in those for whom the treatment is unsuccessful. Whether this is attributable to the hormonal changes that occur as a result of the treatment, as a result of the drugs used for the treatment or as a result of the inevitable stresses of the treatment (both physical and emotional) is impossible to say with this type of study and a relatively small number of subjects.”

‘Increased risk of multiple sclerosis relapse after in vitro fertilisation’ by Laure Michel et al., published in The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry on Monday 11 June 2012.