Placentation in multiple births.

Abstract

Outcomes of multifetal pregnancy in prenatal life are markedly affected by chorionicity. Several disease processes are found in monochorionic (MC) twins that do not occur in dichorionic (DC) twins. Improvements in prenatal outcomes will depend on reliable first trimester diagnosis of chorionicity, allowing early monitoring for complications of MC placentation. Particular structures and functions of MC twin placentas affect outcomes and can be targeted for specific treatments, especially in twin-twin transfusion. The causes of severe DC twin fetal growth discordance are clarified. In post-natal life, zygosity is a determining effect in genetic predisposition to many chronic diseases, including neoplasia. Few MC twins know that they are monozygotic (MZ). Few twin researchers realize that MZ twins may be genetically discordant. Abandonment of the word "identical" for MZ twins would assist in clarifying these issues of zygosity, concordance and discordance.