title: Conjoined twins with mirror-image cleft lip and palate: case report in Brazil.
abstract: The observation of mirror-image clefts in conjoined twins may suggest an influence from environmental factors (e.g., poor blood supply) on the appearance of clefts. The present paper reports on a pair of male thoracopagus twins born to a 20-year-old woman. The twins were stillborn. Both twins exhibited complete unilateral cleft lip and palate with mirror-image configuration, affecting the left side for twin A and the right side for twin B. The twins also shared some organs. The case is discussed with similar information in the literature, with reference to possible related etiologic factors. Reporting on such occurrences throughout the world is important to shed light on important aspects underlying the formation of clefts.
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies, University of São Paulo, Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil. gsdalben@usp.br
authors.forename: Gisele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: da Silva Dalben
authors.forename: Mireile São Geraldo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Dos Santos Souza
authors.forename: Carlos Henrique Bettoni Cruz
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: de Castro
authors.forename: Márcio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Cássio Roberto Rocha
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Consolaro
mesh_terms: D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000473:pathology*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000473:pathology*; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D050497:Stillbirth; D014428:Twins, Conjoined / Q000473:pathology*