Long-term follow-up of children born after inadvertent administration of agonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist in early pregnancy

Our objective was to evaluate long-term outcome of children born after inad vertent administration of a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) in early pregnancy, compared to a control group of children born to matche d women undergoing in-vitro fertilization and children born after spontaneo us pregnancies. Six children from six pregnancies, exposed to a long-acting gonadotrophin agonist, comprised the study group and 20 children mere incl uded in the control groups. Pre-, peri- and post-natal data were collected and the children were followed and examined at a mean age of 7.8 +/- 2.0 Se ars, All children underwent physical and neurological examination, and psyc hological tests. In the study group, one child was born with a major congen ital malformation (cleft palate), and four children subsequently demonstrat ed neurodevelopmental abnormalities, including epileptic disorder (n = 1), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (n = 3), motor difficulties (n = 3 ) and speech difficulties (n = 1), In the control groups, one child had att ention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This observation of neurodevelopment al abnormalities in four of six children in the study group justifies the n eed for long-term follow-up of more children previously exposed to gonadotr ophin-releasing hormone agonist.