[Discrepant outcome of intrauterine listeria infection in dichorionic twins]

BACKGROUND AND CASE REPORT: We report on a case of fetal Listeriosis in a dichorionic twin pregnancy where both placentae, but only one of the twins were infected. While the firstborn child showed no infection and remained healthy until today, the other newborn had all clinical signs of granulomatosis infantiseptica and died despite of immediate resuscitation immediately after delivery.

This discrepant course with Listeriosis in twins underlines, that fetal factors influence the clinical outcome in placental Listeriosis. The reasons for the infection of only one twin and the avoidance of the other twin remain unclarified. We speculate that immunologic mechanisms or the presence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid may play an important role for intrauterine infection with Listeriosis.