Fertility after in utero exposure to DES. [Letter]

A study was conducted of siblings and matched pairs with regard to DES and unfavorable outcomes of pregnancy. No substantial difference was found in relative risk. Numerically the estimated crude relative risk was higher in the sibling pairs. Because many sibling and matched pairs were discordant for pregnancy (since the young women were just beginning their reproductive careers) the numbers were small. Data from the National Cooperative Diethylistilbestrol Adenosis Project (DESAD) on outcome of pregnancy in daughters whose mothers reported a history of problems in pregnancy show no difference in reproduction performance in these daughters as compared with daughters whose mothers had not had problems in prengancy. This was true for both the DES-exposed group and the control group. Infertility another indication for the use of DES may be partly explained by paternal factors. It seems unlikely that DES-exposed women are on the whole genetically at risk for failures in pregnancy. Neither Ferguson nor Dieckmann et al. found evidence that DES had an effect on outcome of pregnancy and this lack of evidence makes it seem unlikely that daughters exposed to DES would not otherwise have been born. (Authors Modified)