SynthesisPediatric research2021
Association of high maternal blood alpha-fetoprotein level with risk of delivering small for gestational age: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Pediatric research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circulating biomarkers associated with placental dysfunction and their utility for predicting fetal growth restriction.Clinical science (London, England : 1979) · 2023Article
- Beyond liver cancer, more application scenarios for alpha-fetoprotein in clinical practice.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Review
- Application of 4-way decomposition to the analysis of placental-fetal biomarkers as intermediary variables between maternal body mass index and birthweight.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEarly identification of pregnant women at risk of delivering small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants is required to reduce the rates of mortality and morbidity in their whole life. This meta-analysis was performed to determine whether women with higher blood alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels are at increased risk of SGA.
methodsStudies identified by searching 11 databases, including PubMed, were assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses and sensitivity analysis removing a potential outlier were performed. Publication bias was assessed using Egger's test.
resultsA total of 39 good-quality cohort studies involving 93,968 women and their newborn infants or fetuses ensured both internal and external validity. Relative risk of SGA among women with higher in comparison to lower blood AFP levels was 2.021 (95% CI: 1.751-2.334). Maternal blood AFP levels showed a dose-response relationship with risk of SGA. Relative risk was higher with diagnosis of SGA by ultrasound than actual birth weight (P = 0.004). Sources of heterogeneity, subgroups, confounding factors, or potential outliers did not alter the interpretations without publication bias (P = 0.320).
conclusionsPregnant women with higher blood AFP levels are at increased risk of SGA compared to those with lower blood AFP levels. IMPACT: Pregnant women with higher blood alpha-fetoprotein levels (AFP) levels are at increased risk of small for gestational age (SGA) compared to those with lower blood AFP levels. High-quality evidence showed a dose-response relationship of maternal blood AFP levels with risk of delivering SGA and was robust to sources of heterogeneity, subgroups, confounding factors, potential outliers, or publication bias. Politically and practically, monitoring of maternal blood AFP level is strongly recommended to identify women at risk of delivering SGA.
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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.