Systematic review of screening for trisomy 21 in twin pregnancies in first trimester combining nuchal translucency and biochemical markers: a meta-analysis.

AIM: This article is a systematic review of the literature to establish the detection rate and false-positive rate of the combined test for the screening of trisomy 21 in twins.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

We conducted a literature search (MEDLINE, EMBASE and ScienceDirect and Cochrane) to identify studies between 1995 and 2013 that provided data on the combined test in twins. Selected studies included data on maternal age, number of fetuses affected by Down syndrome, test strategy, sensitivity and specificity of the test.

RESULTS

The combined test in twins had a pooled sensitivity of 0.893 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.797-0.947] and a pooled specificity of 0.946 (95% CI 0.933-0.957). The performance of the test was good (summary receiver operating characteristic area under the curve: 0.817). In dichorionic twins, sensitivity and specificity were 0.862 (95% CI 0.728-0.936) and 0.952 (95% CI 0.942-0.96), respectively. In monochorionic twins, the sensitivity and specificity were 0.874% (95% CI 0.526-0.977) and 0.954% (95% CI 0.943-0.963), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this meta-analysis show that the accumulative evidence on the performance of the combined test in twin pregnancies is good. Nowadays, it seems to be the best first-trimester screening test available for twin pregnancies.