Maternal Blood Biomarkers of Placentation to Predict Low-Birth-Weight Newborns: A Meta-Analysis.
OBJECTIVE
The development of methods for pre-delivery prediction of low-birth-weight newborns would be clinically advantageous because low birth weight contributes to a high infant mortality rate. This study was performed to examine whether maternal blood biomarkers of placentation can be used to predict low-birth-weight newborns.


METHODS
Ten databases, including PubMed/Medline, were searched. Any English language study that provided all of the true- and false-positive and true- and false-negative results of this prediction was included in the analysis. Study quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies. Bivariate diagnostic meta-analysis was performed to construct hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curves.


RESULTS
Based on relatively good quality studies, alpha fetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) (n = 73, 19, and 7, respectively) showed low sensitivity and specificity and low diagnostic odds ratio. The informational usability was categorized as "no exclusion or confirmation" (i.e., positive likelihood ratio <10 and negative likelihood ratio >0.1). The diagnostic accuracy of AFP and hCG or PAPP-A was categorized as low (i.e., 0.5 ≤ area under the curve ≤0.7) or could not be categorized (i.e., area under the curve <0.5).


CONCLUSION
There is no evidence that maternal blood levels of AFP, hCG, or PAPP-A used as a single predictor are useful to predict low-birth-weight newborns.
['Goto|Eita|E|']
D019540:Area Under Curve D015415:Biomarkers D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight D007231:Infant, Newborn D007234:Infant, Premature D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age D016017:Odds Ratio D011247:Pregnancy D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A D018570:Risk Assessment D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins
Biomarkers newborn meta-analysis low birth weight sensitivity specificity pregnancy