Twin pregnancy complicated by intrauterine death of one fetus

Introduction: Intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) of one twin is a relatively frequent complication of twin pregnancy. Prognosis of the surviving twin seems to be the main problem. There is no agreement on etiology and mother’s coexistent diseases of this complication of twin pregnancy. Management is not consensual and suffers from the lack of guidelines. Aim: The aim of our study was to evaluate course of such pregnancies and neonatal complications. Material and methods: All patients were admitted to Department of Perinatology and Gynecology Poznan University of Medical Sciences. We assessed the course of pregnancy and frequency of neonatal complications respectively. The retrospective study included data from year 1998 to 2008. The study group included 39 woman in twin pregnancy with intrauterine fetal death and their neonates. The control group were 40 woman in twin pregnancy and their neonates. The study group was correlated with the control group. Results: We found statistically significant differences in mean birth weight, gestational week at delivery, discordant growth, hiperbilirubinemia of first twin, few abnormalities concerning blood gases, intrauterine growth restriction of first twin, anemia and hypoxia of first twin, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) of first twin. There were no differences in course of pregnancy between two groups despite of higher prevalence of preterm birth in study group. Conclusions: There is higher risk of pregnancy and neonatal complications for survival fetus after intrauterine death of one fetus.