To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of (1) emergency hospital admissions, and (2) deaths, resulting from Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome; and what steps they intend to take to reduce those numbers.
Answered on
15 November 2018
Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) is a well-recognised side effect of the medicines used to stimulate a patient’s ovaries during in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. The risks of OHSS are taken very seriously and information on this condition and the symptoms to look out for must be provided to all patients. Patients are warned to contact their clinic or seek other medical assistance as soon as possible if they are concerned they may be developing any of the symptoms associated with the condition.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) requires all licensed clinics to report cases of severe or critical OHSS that come to their attention. OHSS, in its most severe form, can be fatal but deaths, as a result of the condition, are extremely rare in the United Kingdom with no deaths recorded since 2006. Hospital Episode Statistics suggest there are more emergency and out-of-hours admissions than are reported to the HFEA but there is evidence to suggest that many of these admissions have been incorrectly coded for OHSS when another condition was the reason for the admission.
The Government has no plans to establish a central database to monitor the long-term health implications of the medicines administered to women during IVF. However, we do track all adverse drug reactions assiduously, for example, through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s pharmacovigilance work and the Yellow Card Scheme.