Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Jan;190(1):156-63.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2003.07.004.

Neuromorbidity in preterm twins in relation to chorionicity and discordant birth weight

Adedayo L Adegbite  1 , Shirley Castille, Stuart Ward, Rekha Bajoria
Affiliations

Neuromorbidity in preterm twins in relation to chorionicity and discordant birth weight

Adedayo L Adegbite et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of neurologic morbidity in preterm monochorionic (MC) and dichorionic (DC) twins.

Study design: We collected perinatal, neonatal, and infant follow-up data of 76 MC and 78 DC twins born between 24 and 34 weeks of gestation (295 infants). Risks of neuromorbidity in the surviving infants were evaluated in relation to chorionicity, discordant birth weight (>20%), twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), and cotwin death.

Results: The overall incidence of cerebral palsy and minor neurologic disabilities in surviving twins was 4% and 9%, respectively. MC infants had a higher incidence of cerebral palsy (8% vs 1%, P<.05) and neurologic morbidity (15% vs 3%, P<.05) than DC infants. The risk of impaired neurodevelopment was higher in MC infants with discordant birth weight (42%, P<.01), TTTS (37%, P<.01), and cotwin death (60%, P<.01) than those with concordant birth weight (8%). In MC pregnancies, the cerebral palsy risk was higher in infants with discordant birth weight than those with chronic TTTS (19% vs 4%, P<.05). Similarly, discordant DC infants had higher neuromorbidity than concordant group (5% vs 1%, P<.05). In both MC and DC discordant infants, neurologic morbidity was independent of growth restriction.

Conclusion: Neurologic morbidity in the preterm MC infants was 7-fold higher than DC infants because of chronic TTTS, discordant birth weight, and cotwin death in utero.

PubMed Disclaimer