RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Recognition And Significance Of The Vanishing Twin
JF The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Practice
JO J Am Board Fam Med
FD American Board of Family Medicine
SP 58
OP 63
DO 10.3122/jabfm.2.1.58
VO 2
IS 1
A1 Jo Jackson
A1 Kurt Benirschke
YR 1989
UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/2/1/58.abstract
AB With the advent of sonography, a twin pregnancy may be diagnosed in early gestation. Serial sonographic examinations can show the disappearance of one of two twins. We offer evidence of an early twin pregnancy with a “vanishing twin,” resulting in a liveborn singleton plus a fetus papyraceus. There is an increasing body of information about explanations, management, and complications associated with a multiple gestation and fetal death. The distinction between monochorionic and dichorionic twins is important in their management and for both maternal and fetal prognosis. Identification of dizygotic twins through chromosomal or sonographic studies, revealing separate placentas, separate membranes, or different sexes, theoretically allows the physician to predict a favorable outcome for the live twin and the mother. (J Am Bd Fam Pract 1989; 2:58-63.)