SynthesisDrug safety2020
Prenatal Exposure to Macrolides and Risk of Congenital Malformations: A Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Drug safety, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does early pregnancy exposure to macrolide antibiotics lead to major birth defects? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021.MMWR. Recommendations and reports : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Recommendations and reports · 2021Guideline
- Prenatal Azithromycin Exposure and Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- First-trimester exposure to macrolides and risk of major congenital malformations compared with amoxicillin: A French nationwide cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Developmental toxicity and programming alterations of multiple organs in offspring induced by medication during pregnancy.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2023Review
- PlacingChildren (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Use of Azithromycin in Pregnancy: More Doubts than Certainties.Clinical drug investigation · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMacrolides are widely used during pregnancy; however, their fetal safety remains uncertain. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the relation between prenatal exposure to macrolides and occurrence of congenital malformations.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and other databases until June 12, 2019. We assessed the quality of the studies and checked for heterogeneity and publication bias. We performed three different analyses and compared the effect of macrolides with each of the following unexposed populations: Group 1: babies unexposed to any medicine before birth, Group 2: babies exposed to non-macrolide antibiotics/non-teratogens, and Group 3: mixed population of the first and second comparators.
resultsA weak association between macrolides and congenital malformation of any type was observed when macrolides were compared with the mixed population (OR
conclusionsOur study suggests a weak association between prenatal use of macrolides and congenital malformations, limited to exposure in early pregnancy, and musculoskeletal and digestive systems. In addition to studies with a larger control of confounding, risk-benefit research is needed to determine the usefulness of macrolides during pregnancy.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.