title: Two kinds of common prenatal screening tests for Down's syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: As the chromosomal examination of foetal cells for the prenatal diagnosis of Down's syndrome (DS) carries a risk of inducing miscarriage, serum screening tests are commonly used before invasive procedures. In this study, a total of 374 records from PubMed, EMBASE, and the ISI Science Citation Index databases were reviewed. As a result of duplication, insufficient data, and inappropriate article types, 18 independent articles containing 183,998 samples were used in the final systematic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic performance of the serum triple screening test (STS) and the integrated screening test (INS). Data extracted from the selected studies were statistically analysed, and the presence of heterogeneity and publication bias was assessed using specific software. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio, and the area under the curve for the STS were 0.77 (95% confidence interval = 0.73-0.81), 0.94 (0.94-0.94), 9.78 (6.87-13.93), 0.26 (0.22-0.31), 44.72 (30.77-65.01), and 0.9064, respectively. For the INS, these values were 0.93 (0.90-0.95), 0.93 (0.93-0.93), 22.38 (12.47-40.14), 0.08 (0.05-0.11), 289.81 (169.08-496.76), and 0.9781, respectively. These results indicate that the INS exhibits better diagnostic value for DS. However, further research is needed to identify other biomarkers to improve prenatal screening tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University of PLA, Chongqing 400038, PR China.|Department of Laboratory Medicine, No. 191 Clinical Department of No. 303 Hospital of PLA, Guigang 537100, Guangxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of PLA, Guangzhou 510010, Guangdong, PR China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University of PLA, Chongqing 400038, PR China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University of PLA, Chongqing 400038, PR China.
authors.forename: Sheng-Lan
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University of PLA, Chongqing 400038, PR China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University of PLA, Chongqing 400038, PR China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D017594:Publication Bias; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers