Oral alterations in children with microcephaly associated to congenital Zika syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analyses

Aims: To synthesize the oral alterations observed in children with microcephaly associated with congenital Zika virus syndrome (CZS), and to compare the oral alterations of these children to a normotypic healthy controls.

Methods and results: A search was performed in six electronic databases. Observational studies published that reported oral alterations in children with CZS were selected. Two authors independently extracted data, assessed study quality, using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist tools, and the certainty of evidence, using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Twenty-one studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled crude occurrence showed 88% of increased salivation (95%CI: 82%-94%), 83% of biofilm (95%CI: 75%-91%), and 73% of bruxism (95%CI: 52%-95%). Compared to normotypic controls, children with CZS-associated microcephaly had a higher chance to have difficulty in lip sealing (OR: 18.28; 95%CI: 1.42-235.91), inadequate lingual posture at rest (OR: 13.57; 95%CI: 4.24-43.44), and delayed eruption (OR: 12.92; 95%CI: 3.42-48.78), with very low certainty.

Conclusion: There are several oral alterations found among children with CZS-associated microcephaly. They are more prone to present some of these alterations, such as difficulty in lip sealing, although with very low certainty of evidence.