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The normal fetus of an acardiac twin pregnancy: Perinatal management based on echocardiographic and sonographic evaluation
Author(s) -
Donnenfeld Alan E.,
van de Woestune Johanna,
Craparo Frank,
Smith Catherine S.,
Ludomirsky Avi,
Weiner Stuart
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.1970110405
Subject(s) - medicine , fetus , umbilical cord , in utero , pregnancy , obstetrics , blood flow , umbilical artery , twin pregnancy , arterial perfusion , ductus venosus , perfusion , cardiology , anatomy , genetics , biology
Experience with three prenatally diagnosed pregnancies complicated by an acardiac twin reveals that ultrasonography and echocardiography are helpful in detecting early signs of in‐utero congestive heart failure in the normal twin. The use of Doppler blood flow analysis to determine direction of blood flow, post‐mortem placental and fetal angiography, and umbilical cord blood gas determination provided proof that retrograde arterial perfusion occurs in the acardiac fetus. In a fourth pregnancy, an experimental approach to occlude the acardiac twin's umbilical cord was attempted, but was unsuccessful.