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
Case Reports
. 2010 Jul;3(2):196-8.
doi: 10.4103/0974-2069.74065.

Twin heart with a fused atria and separate ventricles in conjoined twins

Affiliations
Case Reports

Twin heart with a fused atria and separate ventricles in conjoined twins

Sameer Suresh Ambar et al. Ann Pediatr Cardiol. 2010 Jul.

Abstract

One of the most interesting congenital malformations is that of conjoined twins. We report echocardiographic features of twin heart in dicephalus, tribrachius, dispinous, thoracoomphalopagus twin. It showed two hearts fused at atrial level. Right-sided heart had single atrial chamber with a single ventricle. A single great vessel, aorta, originated from it. Left-sided heart was well developed with two atria and two ventricles. There was a small mid muscular ventricular septal defect and a small patent ductus arteriosus. Great arteries had normal origins.

Keywords: Cardiac malformations in twins; conjoined twins; fused heart.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conjoined twin
Figure 2
Figure 2
Infantogram showing two heads, two thoraces, two hearts and two vertebral columns, three upper limbs and two lower limbs
Figure 3
Figure 3
Echo showing two hearts fused at atrial level. Right-sided heart had single atrial chamber communicating with a single ventricle through single atrioventricular valve and left-side heart communicated with two left-sided ventricles
Figure 4
Figure 4
Right-sided heart single ventricle had large ventricular septal defect. A single great vessel, aorta, originated from the ventricle. Two ventricles of left-sided heart are also seen
Figure 5
Figure 5
Left-sided heart with two atria, two atrioventricular valves and two ventricles
Figure 6
Figure 6
Hypoplastic right aortic arch from right heart

References

    1. Spitz L, Kiely EM. Conjoined twins. JAMA. 2003;289:1307–10. - PubMed
    1. Spitz L, Kiely EM. Experience in the management of conjoined twins. Br J Surg. 2002;89:1188–92. - PubMed
    1. Nichols BL, Blattner RJ, Rudolph AJ. Obstetric management of conjoined twins. Birth Defects. 1967;3:38–51.
    1. Synhorst D, Matlak M, Roan Y, Johnson D, Byrne J, McGough E. Separation of conjoined twins joined at the right atria. Am J Cardiol. 1979;43:662–5. - PubMed
    1. Cywes S, Millar AJ, Rode H, Brown RA. Conjoined twins: The Cape Town experience. Pediatr Surg Int. 1997;12:234–48. - PubMed

Publication types