Independent uterine contractions in simultaneous twin pregnancy in each horn of the uterus didelphys.
The mechanism of synchronizing uterine contractions is not fully understood. We present a case of twin pregnancy in a uterus didelphys and objectively analyze the synchrony of bilateral uterine contractions. A 32-year-old woman, with a history of vaginal septal resection during her previous vaginal delivery, became pregnant with twins in a uterus didelphys in which each uterine horn had one fetus. At 37 weeks and 6 days, the first baby was delivered vaginally. The second baby was delivered by cesarean section due to recurrent late decelerations. Operative findings confirmed the didelphys uterus. We retrospectively reviewed the timing of contractions of both uteruses. The timing was determined by visual analysis as synchronous if both uteruses contracted within 5 s. Otherwise, contractions were considered solitary. Both uterine horns contracted independently in 90% of the incidence throughout labor and delivery. From this rare case of an 'experiment by nature', we speculated that the myometrium must be histologically connected in order to synchronize uterine contractions.
Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan.
Yohei
Y
Maki
Seishi
S
Furukawa
Hiroshi
H
Sameshima
Tsuyomu
T
Ikenoue
D000328:Adult; D001683:Biological Clocks; D002585:Cesarean Section; D003654:Deceleration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050498:Live Birth; D008954:Models, Biological; D009215:Myometrium / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011247:Pregnancy; D059285:Pregnancy, Twin; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014564:Urogenital Abnormalities / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D014590:Uterine Contraction; D014599:Uterus / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000503:physiopathology
synchrony; twin; uterine contraction; uterus didelphys