title: Prenatally diagnosed monochorionic diamniotic triplet pregnancy.
abstract: We present an extremely rare case of monochorionic diamniotic (MD) triplet pregnancy diagnosed via ultrasonography at the end of the first trimester that resulted in delivery of three healthy newborns. Ultrasonography for a 34-year-old woman at 12 weeks of gestation showed three fetuses and one placenta with a T-sign at the initial segment of the dividing membrane. Color Doppler examination revealed umbilical cord entanglement between two fetuses in one sac in addition to another sac containing one fetus. Therefore, this was diagnosed as MD triplet pregnancy. The triplets were delivered by cesarean section at 35 weeks of gestation and were healthy without neurological morbidities at the age of 28 days. Histopathological examination also revealed an MD triplet placenta. The possibility of MD triplet pregnancy should be recognized, although it is rare.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yonetani
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Aki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mabuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sasahara
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shusaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mitsuda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002823:Chorion; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D059286:Pregnancy, Triplet; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal
keywords: T-sign; first trimester; monochorionic diamniotic triplet pregnancy; ultrasonography; umbilical cord entanglement