title: The normal fetus of an acardiac twin pregnancy: perinatal management based on echocardiographic and sonographic evaluation.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Section of Genetics, Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia 19107.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Donnenfeld
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van de Woestijne
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Craparo
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ludomirsky
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004077:Digoxin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D006831:Polyhydramnios / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011272:Pregnancy, Multiple; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic
chemical_list: D004077:Digoxin