AIMS Our objective was to elucidate the pathogenesis of twin discordance in four dizygotic pregnancies where only one of the twins had IUGR due to chronic villitis. METHODS We identified four cases of dizygotic twin placentas over a period of four years with evidence of chronic villitis. There was no clinical or pathologic evidence of TORCH, bacterial infection, preeclampsia or autoimmune dis...

We report a dichorionic twin gestation with diffuse placental mesenchymal dysplasia (PMD) and androgenetic biparental mosaicism (ABM) involving one twin's placenta with complete absence of fetal development for that twin. To our knowledge, this is the 1st reported case of PMD without fetal development. We discuss the gross, histologic, and genetic hallmarks of PMD and the spectrum of variabilit...

Blood chimerism in twins is known to occur through the transfer of hematopoietic stem cells between the fetuses via a common placenta. We present a case of blood chimerism in a dizygotic dichorionic twin pregnancy. The female twin was delivered at 34 weeks of gestation, and the male twin was stillborn. Pathologic examination confirmed dichorionic diamniotic placentas. The karyotype of the femal...

Methods Case 1: A 35 year-old Chinese female with a history of one previous caesarean section. Antenatal ultrasound noted a localised area at the inferior base of placenta where the retroplacental hypoechoic zone was not demonstrated, and placenta appeared to have invaded myometrium. A suggestion of placenta accreta was made. Patient also underwent MRI which showed a focal area of abnormal sign...

Monozygotic (MZ) twins provide a natural system for investigating developmental plasticity and the potential epigenetic origins of disease. A major difference in the intrauterine environment between MZ pairs is whether they share a common placenta or have separate placentas. Using DNA methylation measured at >400,000 points in the genome on the Illumina HumanMethylation450 array, we demonstrate...

OBJECTIVES To examine birth weight in dichorionic and monochorionic twins and trichorionic triplets, and to estimate the relative independent importance on growth of fetal number, chorionicity and gestational age. METHODS Four groups of pregnancies were examined: 12,816 singleton pregnancies, 302 monochorionic twin pregnancies, 569 dichorionic twin pregnancies, and 97 trichorionic triplet pre...

BACKGROUND Patients with morbidly adherent placenta (MAP) are under risk of massive bleeding. It readily necessitates very complicated surgery and massive blood transfusion, and even leads to mortality. Cesarean hysterectomy (CH) is the procedure that is acknowledged worldwide, since it helps to minimize complications. CASE PRESENTATION A patient with dichorionic twin pregnancy underwent to c...

Background. Management of multiple gestation complicated by the foeto-foetal transfusion syndrome is among most intricate modern obstetric issues. The develops in 10–20% monochorionic diamniotic twins leading to 80–100% mortality one or both if left uncorrected, especially early cases. Although usually with placentae, there are notable exceptions vascular placental anastomoses reported dichorio...

June 2005 | Volume 2 | Issue 6 | e195 | e198 As mothers get older and assisted conception becomes more common in developed countries, the incidence of multiple births—primarily of nonidentical siblings, but also of identical ones—has dramatically increased. Multiple pregnancies are high-risk pregnancies, with preterm delivery and monochorionicity (shared placenta) the major problems. Consequent...

June 2005 | Volume 2 | Issue 6 | e195 | e198 As mothers get older and assisted conception becomes more common in developed countries, the incidence of multiple births—primarily of nonidentical siblings, but also of identical ones—has dramatically increased. Multiple pregnancies are high-risk pregnancies, with preterm delivery and monochorionicity (shared placenta) the major problems. Consequent...