Journal Article

External ear malformations and cardiac and renal anomalies: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Cordero, Justin, Willens, Sierra, Vallurupalli, Medha, Ghafari, Arman, Alaniz, Leonardo, Ibarra, Alejandra, J. Pfaff, Miles, Vu, Cindy

2024

Overview

External Ear Malformations (EEM) continue to be a common malformation seen in the pediatric patient population. This study aims to further elucidate the correlation between EEM and cardiac and renal anomalies. A systematic review and meta-analysis to study the incidence of cardiac and renal anomalies associated with syndromic and isolated (EEM). The literature search spanned multiple databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and MEDLINE. Of 1,058 initial studies, 33 were included for meta-analyses. Mean JBI score for all included studies was 92.06%, indicating acceptable study quality. Interrater reliability was high, with a Cohen kappa score for all studies of 0.94. The resulting pooled prevalence of cardiac abnormalities was 20% [95% CI:13-28%], while renal abnormalities were 13% [95% CI: 7-20%]. The most common anomalies were VSD (3.725%) and renal agenesis (2.04%). The presence of syndrome data across studies was not a significant modifier of prevalence rates. These results highlight a higher prevalence of cardiac-related conditions than renal anomalies in patients with both syndromic and non-syndromic EEM in the included studies, underscoring the need for thorough clinical evaluations.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Subject: Birth defects / Children / Diagnosis / Ear / Genetic aspects / Health aspects / Medical examination / Risk factors