Vascular anastomoses leading to amelia and cutis aplasia in a dizygotic twin pregnancy

Abstract

Dichorionic placentation is observed in both monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twinning, while monochorionic placentation is unique to MZ twinning. Examinations of monochorionic twin placentas frequently reveal the presence of vascular anastomoses between the two fetal circulations; such anastomoses rarely occur in dichorionic placentas. Consequently, abnormalities resulting from placental vascular communications are almost exclusively observed in MZ twin pairs with monochorionic placentas. We report opposite-sex DZ twins in which vascular anastomoses occurred within a fused dichorionic placenta and were associated with vascular disruptions in one twin. The liveborn male twin had amelia, cutis aplasia, and XX/XY blood chimerism; the female twin died in utero.