BACKGROUND: The effects of discrepancies in the birth weight and hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]) at the birth on infant outcome have not been fully investigated in monochorionic (MC) and dichorionic (DC) twins. METHODS: A retrospective study of 95 twin pregnancies. All 190 neonates (68 MC twins and 122 DC twins) were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, and the [Hb] was determined soon after birth. The [Hb] discordance represents the [Hb] of the smaller twin expressed as a percentage of the [Hb] of the larger twin. Infants were followed-up until 1 year of corrected age and their psychomotor development was evaluated between 12 and 18 months. RESULTS: One DC infant died by 1 year of age. Twelve MC infants and eight DC infants had disabilities by 1.5 year of age. In the MC group, 11 infants (28%) of 20 pairs with an intertwin [Hb] discordance >100 had disabilities compared with one (3.6%) of 14 pairs with an [Hb] discordance < or = 100 (p<0.05). A similar trend was observed in the DC group, but the difference was not significant. The incidence of disabled infants increased as the intertwin birth weight discordance increased in MC twins. CONCLUSIONS: An adverse outcome at 1 year of age in MC twins was associated with a greater birth weight discordance and an [Hb] disordance that indicated polycythemia in the smaller twin.
BACKGROUND: The effects of discrepancies in the birth weight and hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]) at the birth on infant outcome have not been fully investigated in monochorionic (MC) and dichorionic (DC) twins. METHODS: A retrospective study of 95 twin pregnancies. All 190 neonates (68 MC twins and 122 DC twins) were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, and the [Hb] was determined soon after birth. The [Hb] discordance represents the [Hb] of the smaller twin expressed as a percentage of the [Hb] of the larger twin. Infants were followed-up until 1 year of corrected age and their psychomotor development was evaluated between 12 and 18 months. RESULTS: One DCinfant died by 1 year of age. Twelve MCinfants and eight DCinfants had disabilities by 1.5 year of age. In the MC group, 11 infants (28%) of 20 pairs with an intertwin [Hb] discordance >100 had disabilities compared with one (3.6%) of 14 pairs with an [Hb] discordance < or = 100 (p<0.05). A similar trend was observed in the DC group, but the difference was not significant. The incidence of disabled infants increased as the intertwin birth weight discordance increased in MC twins. CONCLUSIONS: An adverse outcome at 1 year of age in MC twins was associated with a greater birth weight discordance and an [Hb] disordance that indicated polycythemia in the smaller twin.
Authors: Denis A Vaughan; Robin Ruthazer; Alan S Penzias; Errol R Norwitz; Denny Sakkas Journal: J Assist Reprod Genet Date: 2015-11-18 Impact factor: 3.412