title: Ablation of acardiac twin by alcohol injection into the intra-abdominal umbilical artery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence is a rare complication of monochorionic twinning, in which the normal pump twin perfuses the abnormal acardiac twin in a reversed fashion via an artery-to-artery placental anastomosis. Mortality in the normal twin exceeds 50% as a result of preterm labor, polyhydramnios, and congestive heart failure.
  
  
  METHODS
  A twin pregnancy complicated by the twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence developed early hemodynamic decompensation in the pump twin with increasing size of the acardiac twin. Ablation of the acardiac twin at 23 weeks' gestation was achieved successfully by injecting 1 mL of absolute alcohol into the intra-abdominal portion of the single umbilical artery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Direct ultrasound-guided intravascular injection of absolute alcohol is an easy and straightforward technique to occlude circulation to the acardiac twin. This vessel can be identified easily by color Doppler ultrasonography away from the main venous trunk. Selection of this target, rather than occlusion at the level of the umbilical cord, could reduce the risks of cord accidents and inadvertent intravenous injection of the ablative material.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Fetal Care, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sepulveda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bower
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Fisk
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000328:Adult; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital; D006801:Humans; D007269:Injections, Intra-Arterial / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D018607:Pregnancy Reduction, Multifetal / Q000379:methods*; D014427:Twins; D014469:Umbilical Arteries
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol