Craniopagus twins are a rare congenital malformation in which twins are conjoined at the head. Although there is high prenatal and postnatal mortality for craniopagus twins, successful separation has become more common due to advances in neuroimaging, neuroanesthesia, and neurosurgical techniques. Joined brain tissue, shared arteries and veins, and defects in the skull and dura make surgery technically challenging, and neuroimaging plays an important role in preoperative planning. Drawing on our experience from consultation for multiple successful separations of craniopagus twins, we discuss what radiologists need to know about the anatomy, classification, imaging techniques, and surgical management of craniopagus twins.

http://www.ajnr.org/content/ajnr/41/6/951.full.pdf

Preoperative Evaluation of Craniopagus Twins: Anatomy, Imaging Techniques, and Surgical Management.

A case of conjoined twins discovered by routine transabdominal ultrasound examination at 16 weeks gestation in a 19-year-old multigravid female. They were joined at the chest and the abdomen and had one functional heart. The pregnancy was terminated by caesarean section at 19 weeks gestation with approval from the family.

Conjoined twins—thoraco-omphalopagus (type A)

No abstract available Sri Lanka Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Vol.37(2) 2015: 24-26

/pdf/antenatal-diagnosis-and-management-of-conjoined-twins-a-case-5fzb138bko.pdf

Antenatal Diagnosis and Management of Conjoined Twins : a case report

Conjoined twins are the most extreme form of twinning, occurring in about 1% of monozygotic twins with incidence of about 1 in 50,000 to 1 in 100,000 births. However 60% are still born or die shortly after, the true incidence is around 1 in 200,000 live births.1 The antenatal diagnosis is difficult clinically but extremely important. The prenatal diagnosis of conjoined twins is usually suggested at prenatal sonography, which has the advantage of offering a safe, accurate, and reliable method of detecting anomalies of foetal growth and structure.2,3 However, because of the intrinsic limitation of sonography with regard to tissue contrast, MRI has been explored as a safe alternative. We present a case of conjoined twin (Craniopagus and Thoraco-omphalopagus) diagnosed by ultrasound and MRI at 15 weeks of gestation.

Early prenatal diagnosis in a case of conjoined twin with Craniopagus and Thoraco-omphalopagus

Introduction: Conjoined twins are complicated and unusual form of monozygotic twins. We present early prenatal diagnosis of three cases of conjoined twins by 2-dimensional (2D) ultrasound between 9-10 weeks of gestation. Case presentation: In the first case, we prenatally diagnosed parapagus dicephalus dibrachus dipus with 2- dimensional ultrasound at gestational age of 10 weeks 4 days. In the second case, we detected parapagus dicephalus at the 10 weeks 2 days gestation. In the third case, we diagnosed thoracopagus at the 9 weeks 6 days of gestation, using 2D ultrasound. After proper counselling, all of the patients opted early pregnancy termination due to the poor prognosis of conjoined twins. Conclusion: Early prenatal detection of conjoined twinning is important for the gestational course. Conjoined twinning could be identified in early first trimester with cautious and comprehensive view by experienced sonographers. Early and accurate prenatal diagnosis of conjoined twinning allows preferable counselling of the parents and gives a chance for early termination of pregnancy.

/pdf/early-prenatal-diagnosis-of-conjoined-twins-case-series-g0zvv6pg0s.pdf

Early prenatal diagnosis of conjoined twins: case series

Conjoined twin is a sporadic event with prevalence of 1 in 50000 to 1000000 birth. Incomplete division of embryonic disc results in conjoined twin. Ultrasound plays a major role for early detection and proper obstetric management. A case of cephalothoracopagus conjoined twin was detected at 20 weeks pregnancy in a primigravida woman by antenatal ultrasound. The pregnancy was terminated after proper counseling, despite the need to save the baby, as multidisciplinary team to separate the twins was not available.

/pdf/antenatal-detection-of-conjoined-twin-m0s10gyb7e.pdf

A Dangol

Papers

Antenatal Detection of Conjoined Twin