A diagnostic test accuracy meta-analysis of maternal serum ischemia-modified albumin for detection of preeclampsia

Background/aims: Ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) has been widely accepted as a serological biomarker. IMA has been proposed as a simple and novel marker of oxidative stress in preeclampsia (PE). This systematic review and diagnostic test accuracy meta-analysis aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of this novel serological biomarker, IMA to detect PE.

Methods: A systematic search of major databases was performed to identify all published diagnostic accuracy studies on IMA. Risk of bias and applicability concerns were assessed for included studies. Summary estimates; the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of IMA for the diagnosis of PE were computed using random-effects models. The overall test performance was summarized using summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve analysis.

Results: Six articles were included in this meta-analysis. The overall estimates of IMA in detecting PE were pooled sensitivity; 0.80 (95%CI 0.73–0.86), pooled specificity; 0.76 (95%CI 0.70–0.81), DOR; 14.32 (95%CI 5.06–40.57), and area under curve (AUC); 0.860. There was no between-study heterogeneity due to threshold effect.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis showed IMA could be useful as a biomarker for PE with good accuracy (AUC?=?0.860). However, further research is needed for re-evaluation and clinical validation of fairly promising results of this meta-analysis.