Early prenatal diagnosis of parapagus conjoined twins

Conjoined twinning occurs in 1/100 of monozygotic twins, 1/50,000 gestations and 1/250,000 live births. It is the consequence of a division event at the primitive streak stage of the human embryonic development, about 13-14 days after fertilisation, in monochorionic monoamniotic gestations. A healthy pregnant woman, Gravida 2 Para 1, was admitted into our Fetal Medicine Unit to perform the first trimester ultrasound. A diagnosis of conjoined parapagus twinning based on ultrasound features was made at 11 weeks of gestation, and the couple decided to terminate the pregnancy. The ultrasound showed two independent skulls and hearts, a shared spine below the thoracic level, and a shared stomach. The pathological findings were slightly different, showing two independent stomachs draining into a common duodenum. The karyotype was 46 XY. Early prenatal ultrasound may provide a window to counsel the family and to offer an early termination of pregnancy.