Association of maternal hypertensive disorders with retinopathy of prematurity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUD The role of maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) in the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is unclear. METHODS Studies were retrieved through literature searches in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library up to May 5, 2016 without language restrictions. Cohort or case-control studies that reported the association of maternal hypertensive disorders and retinopathy of prematurity were eligible. Either a fixed- or a random-effects model was used to calculate the overall combined risk estimates. RESULTS Thirteen cohort studies involving a total of 45082 individuals were included in the review. The pooled odds ratios of maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy for any stage and severe stages of ROP was 1.12 (95%CI: 0.90-1.40) and 0.80 (95%CI: 0.47-1.35), respectively. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that no single study qualitatively influenced the pooled OR. However, substantial heterogeneity and publication bias were observed in the meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS Additional larger, prospective and well-adjusted studies are needed to determine the association between HDP and ROP, especially regarding the effects of different types of maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy on retinopathy of prematurity.