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Pathology of Twinning

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Fetal and Neonatal Pathology

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Abstract

As other causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality are reduced by improving standards of prenatal and perinatal care, stubborn problems remain. The continuing problem of lethal congenital anomalies is well recognised. Multiple pregnancy is a “hidden” but endemic risk which is not usually thus categorised, but contributes an excess of perinatal deaths, compared to singletons within the categories antepartum fetal death, prematurity and congenital anomalies. Twinning is also common among spontaneous abortuses, although exact statistics are not available. In the era of ovulation induction and in vitro fertilisation, higher-order multiple pregnancies are becoming more common. However, it is the monochorionic (MC) multiple pregnancies which carry particularly high perinatal risks that warrant classification as a primary cause of perinatal death.

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Authors
  1. Geoffrey A. Machin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatric Pathology and Cytogenetics, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, EH9 1LF, UK

    Jean W. Keeling MBBS, FRCPath, FRCP (Edin) (Consultant Paediatric Pathologist, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Pathology) (Consultant Paediatric Pathologist, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Pathology)

  2. University of Edinburgh, UK

    Jean W. Keeling MBBS, FRCPath, FRCP (Edin) (Consultant Paediatric Pathologist, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Pathology) (Consultant Paediatric Pathologist, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Pathology)

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag London

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Machin, G.A. (1993). Pathology of Twinning. In: Keeling, J.W. (eds) Fetal and Neonatal Pathology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3802-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3802-0_9

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