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Placentation in Multiple Births

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Geoffrey Machin
Geoffrey Machin*
Affiliation:
The Permanente Medical Group, Oakland, USA. [email protected]
*
*Address for correspondence: Geoffrey Machin, The Permanente Medical Group, 280 West MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA 94611, USA.

Abstract

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Outcomes of multifetal pregnancy in prenatal life are markedly affected by chorionicity. Several disease processes are found in monochorionic (MC) twins that do not occur in dichorionic (DC) twins. Improvements in prenatal outcomes will depend on reliable first trimester diagnosis of chorionicity, allowing early monitoring for complications of MC placentation. Particular structures and functions of MC twin placentas affect outcomes and can be targeted for specific treatments, especially in twin-twin transfusion. The causes of severe DC twin fetal growth discordance are clarified. In post-natal life, zygosity is a determining effect in genetic predisposition to many chronic diseases, including neoplasia. Few MC twins know that they are monozygotic (MZ). Few twin researchers realize that MZ twins may be genetically discordant. Abandonment of the word “identical” for MZ twins would assist in clarifying these issues of zygosity, concordance and discordance.

Type
Festschrift
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , 01 June 2001 , pp. 150 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2001