Congenital heart defects and maternal fever: systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review and meta-analyze the relation between maternal fever in the first trimester and congenital heart defect (CHD) in offspring. STUDY DESIGN: We searched PubMed (1977-2012), Embase (1974-2012) and the Cochrane Library (2012) databases to identify relevant articles. Random effects model were performed, with the conduction of subgroup analysis. RESULT: Meta-analysis yielded a pooled odds ratio of 1.53 (95% confidence interval = 1.36 to 1.73) for the magnitude of the relation between maternal fever in the first trimester and CHD in offspring. As to subgroup analysis, it is associated with ventricular septal defects (VSDs) and right obstructive defects. CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggests that maternal fever in the first trimester is the risk factor of congenital heart diseases in offspring. Through the subgroup analysis, we find that exposure to maternal fever is the risk factor of VSD and right obstructive defects.