title: Fetal echocardiographic characteristics of fused heart in thoracopagus conjoined twins.
abstract: Conjoined twins (CT) are rare with possible serious malformations in which soft tissue, bone, or some organs are joined in utero. The extent of cardiac fusion and intracardiac anatomy of CT determine the viability, natural history, and outcome of potential surgical intervention. Early prenatal diagnosis and assessment may provide a window of opportunity to counsel the family for their informed decision on the pregnancy and to plan for prenatal and perinatal care. In this report, we describe a case of thoracopagus twins diagnosed by fetal echocardiography at 23-week gestation. The 2 hearts fused at the atrial and ventricular levels. The outcome and review of literature on fetal echocardiographic characteristics of this malformation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasonography, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Ming-Xing
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Lin-Yuan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Ping-Ping
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Shuping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ge
mesh_terms: D000025:Abortion, Eugenic; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D014428:Twins, Conjoined; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*
keywords: congenital heart defects; conjoined twins; fetal echocardiography