title: Two cases of monozygotic twins, in each of which one fetus was prenatally diagnosed as having a heart anomaly.
abstract: In each of the 2 cases of monozygotic twins reported here, 1 of the fetuses was suspected, as a result of a prenatal ultrasonographic examination, of having congenital heart disease (CHD). One of twins (Case 1) had a hypoplastic left heart (HPLH), coarctation of the aorta (CoA), mitral stenosis (MS), and an atrial septal defect (ASD). Of the other twins (Case 2), 1 fetus had pure pulmonary atresia (PPA) and tricuspid regurgitation (TR). In Case 1, the fetus with CHD had a single umbilical artery, the other had otherwise. In Case 2, the fetus with CHD had a velamentous insertion and an accessory placenta, and the other fetus had a marginal insertion. These findings suggest that environmental factors such as blood flow, blood pressure and so on have a role in the etiology of CHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Negishi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okuyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sagawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Makinoda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004200:Diseases in Twins; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal