Diagnostic Value of Fetal Echocardiography for Congenital Heart Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Prenatal diagnosis of fetal congenital heart disease (CHD) has been shown to have a significant effect on prenatal and postnatal management and outcomes. However, the factors influencing the diagnostic accuracy and which pregnant trimester is the most adaptive for fetal heart disease remain uncertain despite of extensive researches. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of echocardiography for detecting CHD and potential influence factors. We searched Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) to identify relevant studies from January 1, 1990 to August 13, 2015. Overall, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio were 68.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 66.8%–70.2%), 99.8% (95% CI, 99.7%–99.8%), 3026.9 (95% CI, 1417.9–6461.8), 659.41 (95% CI, 346.38–1255.3), and 0.246 (95% CI, 0.187–0.324) respectively (AUC = 0.9924). The pooled sensitivity of basic cardiac echocardiographic examination (BCEE), extended cardiac echocardiographic examination (ECEE), BCEE plus outflow tract view (BCEE + OTV), BCEE + OTV + 3VTV (BCEE plus outflow tract view plus three vessel and trachea view) for the prenatal diagnosis of CHD were 49.0%, 75.5%, 66.1%, and 83.7% respectively. The pooled sensitivity of the prenatal echocardiographic diagnosis of CHD during the first trimester, second trimester, the second to third trimester were 60.3%, 60.9%, and 77.4%, respectively. The pooled sensitivity of BCEE and ECEE for the prenatal diagnosis of CHD during the second to third trimester was significantly higher than that during the second trimester. The pooled sensitivity of the prenatal echocardiographic diagnosis of CHD for pregnancies with low risk, high risk, low and high risk, and unselected risk were 45.4%, 85.1%, 89.1%, and 66.2%, respectively. The sensitivity analysis was robust and risk level was significant source of heterogeneity. Deek test indicated no potential significant publication bias. Prenatal ultrasound is a powerful tool for the diagnosis of CHD; however, echocardiography has individual sensitivity for different gestation period, different levels of risk, and different echo-views.