Selective fetal growth restriction in dichorionic diamniotic twin pregnancy: systematic review and meta‐analysis of pregnancy and perinatal outcomes

ABSTRACT Objective Most of the published literature on selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR) has focused on monochorionic twin pregnancies. The aim of this systematic review was to report on the outcome of dichorionic diamniotic (DCDA) twin pregnancies complicated by sFGR. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library databases were searched. The inclusion criteria were DCDA twin pregnancies complicated by sFGR. The outcomes explored were intrauterine death (IUD), neonatal death and perinatal death (PND), survival of at least one and both twins, preterm birth (PTB) (either spontaneous or iatrogenic) prior to 37, 34, 32 and 28 weeks' gestation, pre‐eclampsia (PE) or gestational hypertension, neurological, respiratory and infectious morbidity, Apgar score < 7 at 5 min, necrotizing enterocolitis, retinopathy of prematurity and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A composite outcome of neonatal morbidity, defined as the occurrence of respiratory, neurological or infectious morbidity, was also evaluated. Random‐effects meta‐analysis was used to analyze the data, and results are reported as pooled proportion or odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI. Results Thirteen studies reporting on 1339 pregnancies with sFGR and 6316 pregnancies without sFGR were included. IUD occurred in 2.6% (95% CI, 1.1–4.7%) of fetuses from DCDA pregnancies with sFGR and 0.6% (95% CI, 0.3–9.7%) of those from DCDA pregnancies without sFGR, while the respective values for PND were 5.2% (95% CI, 3.5–7.3%) and 1.7% (95% CI, 0.1–5.7%). Spontaneous or iatrogenic PTB before 37 weeks complicated 84.1% (95% CI, 55.6–99.2%) of pregnancies with sFGR and 69.1% (95% CI, 45.4–88.4%) of those without sFGR. The respective values for PTB before 34, 32 and 28 weeks were 18.4% (95% CI, 4.4–38.9%), 13.0% (95% CI, 9.5–17.1%) and 1.5% (95% CI, 0.6–2.3%) in pregnancies with sFGR and 10.2% (95% CI, 3.1–20.7%), 7.8% (95% CI, 6.8–9.0%) and 1.8% (95% CI, 1.3–2.4%) in those without sFGR. PE or gestational hypertension complicated 19.9% (95% CI, 12.4–28.6%) of pregnancies with sFGR and 12.8% (95% CI, 10.4–15.4%) of those without sFGR. Composite morbidity occurred in 28.2% (95% CI, 7.8–55.1%) of fetuses from pregnancies with sFGR and 13.9% (95% CI, 6.5–23.5%) of those from pregnancies without sFGR. When stratified according to the sFGR status within a twin pair, composite morbidity occurred in 39.0% (95% CI, 11.1–71.5%) of growth‐restricted fetuses and 29.9% (95% CI, 3.5–65.0%) of appropriately grown fetuses (OR, 1.9 (95% CI, 1.7–3.1)), while the respective values for PND were 3.0% (95% CI, 1.8–4.5%) and 1.6% (95% CI, 0.9–2.6%) (OR, 2.1 (95% CI, 1.0–4.1)). On risk analysis, DCDA pregnancies complicated by sFGR had a significantly higher risk of IUD (OR, 5.2 (95% CI, 3.2–8.6)) and composite morbidity or admission to the NICU (OR, 3.2 (95% CI, 1.9–5.6)) compared to those without sFGR, while there was no difference in the risk of PTB before 34 weeks ( P = 0.220) or PE/gestational hypertension ( P = 0.210). Conclusions DCDA twin pregnancies complicated by sFGR are at high risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality. The findings of this systematic review are relevant for counseling and management of complicated DCDA twin pregnancies, in which twin‐specific, rather than singleton, outcome data should be used. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.