Evaluation of the role of first-trimester obstetric ultrasound in the detection of major anomalies: a systematic review

• Type: Another Publication in an International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

Farraposo, S (Author) Other; Montenegro, N (Author) Other; matias, a (Author) FMUP

Journal

Title: Journal of Perinatal Medicine

Vol. 42

Pages: 141-149

ISSN: 0300-5577

Publisher: Walter De Gruyter

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 9 Citations

Scopus - 15 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-009-C2T

DOI: 10.1515/jpm-2013-0130

Abstract (EN): Aim: To perform a systematic review to assess the accuracy of first-trimester ultrasound (US) in the diagnoses of major structural malformations in chromosomally normal fetuses. Methods: References were obtained from the MEDLINE database, without time range limitations. For each, the risk of bias was evaluated and the important data were extracted. Only studies that used first-trimester US to diagnose major structural malformations were included. We evaluated the sensitivity of US over a low-risk unselected population of pregnant women carrying euploid fetuses. Results: A total of 19 studies were included, contributing to 126,937 fetuses and 1399 major malformations. The prevalence of lethal and severe malformations obtained was 1.2% [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.0-1.4]. Both averaged and pooled sensitivity, 50.0% (95% CI 44.1-55.9) and 45.2%, respectively, presented a moderate value for first-trimester US in the detection of structural malformations. Conclusion: Based on our analysis of the data, the average sensitivity of first-trimester US to detect structural malformations was 50%. It is our conviction that US has the potential to evolve in this role by exploiting the natural history of malformations and the development of US techniques.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 9