Thoracopagus Conjoined Twins: A Case Report

Abstract

Objective. Conjoined twin is a rarely seen congenital anomaly together with severe mortality and morbidity. The more common types of conjoined twins include the thoracopagus type, where the fusion is anterior, at the chest, and involves the heart. We are reporting one case of conjoined thoracopagus twins diagnosed by ultrasonography at 11 weeks. Case Report. In a multigravid pregnant woman who has been admitted to our clinic with a diagnosis of conjoined twins, thoracopagus, by ultrasonography at an 11-week gestation, termination of the pregnancy was performed. Conclusion. Making an early diagnosis with ultrasonographic examination gives the parents a chance to elect pregnancy termination.

Dicephalus parapagus conjoined twin: a rare case with review of literature

“…Only one type of twin mentioned in the third type with lateral fusion is Parapagus (fused by side). 9 In one of the case series of 74 cases of conjoined reported by Chih-Ping Chen et al the incidence of parapagus conjoined twins was found to be 13.5% establishing the rarity of this condition. 4 The prognosis of conjoined twins is poor.…”

Surgical management of pygopagus conjoined twins with spinal bifida

“…Conjoined twins are always joined at homologous sites and the clinical classification is based on the most prominent site of union, combined with the suffix 'pagus' such as thoracopagus (chest), omphalopagus (umbilicus), ischiopagus (hip), pygopagus (rump), rachipagus (spine), craniopagus (cranium), cephalopagus (head), and parapagus (side) [3] (Table 1).…”

“…The older and traditional theory is fission, in which the fertilized egg splits partially and conjoined twins represent delayed separation of the embryonic mass after 12th day of fertilization. The second theory is fusion, in which a fertilized egg completely separates, but stem cells find alike stem cells on the other twin and fuse the twins together [1,3].…”

A thoracophagus conjoined twins with myelomeningocele: an unusual case

“…1 Conjoined twins are a subset of monozygotic twins in which incomplete embryonic division occurs on 13 to 15th days following conception resulting in varying degrees of fusion between the two foetuses. 2 Conjoined twinning is rare, occurring in about 1% of monochorionic twins with an estimated incidence ranging from 1:30,000 to 1:2,00,000 live births and 1 in 650 to 900 twin deliveries.…”