Accuracy of imaging parameters in the prediction of lethal pulmonary hypoplasia secondary to mid‐trimester prelabor rupture of fetal membranes: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

In women who have suffered mid‐trimester prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM), prediction of pulmonary hypoplasia is important for optimal management. We performed a systematic review to assess the capacity of imaging parameters to predict pulmonary hypoplasia. We searched for published articles that reported on biometric parameters and allowed the construction of a 2 × 2 table, comparing at least one of these parameters with the occurrence of pulmonary hypoplasia. The selected studies were scored on methodological quality and we calculated sensitivity and specificity of the tests in the prediction of pulmonary hypoplasia and lethal pulmonary hypoplasia. Overall performance was assessed by summary receiver–operating characteristics (sROC) analyses that were performed with bivariate meta‐analysis. We detected 13 studies that reported on the prediction of lethal pulmonary hypoplasia. The quality of the included studies was poor to mediocre. The estimated sROC curves for the chest circumference/abdominal circumference ratio and other parameters showed limited accuracy in the prediction of pulmonary hypoplasia. In women with mid‐trimester PPROM, the available evidence indicates limited accuracy of biometric parameters in the prediction of pulmonary hypoplasia. Copyright © 2012 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.