Purpose: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), one of the leading causes of childhood blindness, is a complex condition in which various antenatal and neonatal factors participate at different stages of the disease. This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate whether pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) was associated with ROP by summarizing all available evidence.
Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, EBSCO and SCOPUS databases were searched for all relevant studies published from inception to April 2020. Studies investigating the association between PIH and ROP were included.
Results: A total of 29 studies were finally included for the meta-analysis after study selection. The results showed there are both no significant association between PIH and the occurrence of ROP in case-control studies (OR 0.91, 95%CI 0.59 to 1.40, I2 = 81%, p = 0.67) and cohort studies (OR 1.32, 95%CI 0.89 to 1.98, I2 = 93%, p = 0.17). The conclusion was same between pre-eclampsia and ROP (OR 0.82, 95%CI: 0.50 to 1.35, I2 = 83%, p = 0.43 in case-control studies and OR 1.70, 95%CI: 0.82 to 3.50, I2 = 95%, p = 0.15 in cohort studies).
Conclusion: In summary, this meta-analysis did not reveal a consistent result, the conclusion remains inconclusive, and further studies will be needed to come to a conclusion for the effect of maternal PIH on ROP and foster a better understanding of the prevention of ROP.
Keywords: meta-analysis; pre-eclampsia; pregnancy-induced hypertension; retinal disorder; retinopathy of prematurity.
© 2021 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.