How conjoined twins are formed can it be diagnosed?

Recently, a pair of conjoined twin boys were successfully separated at the Children's Hospital affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai. During the more than 5-hour operation, the baby lost only 30 ml of blood. The conjoined twin boys were successfully separated, and the mother of the baby cried when she thanked the doctor. So how are conjoined twins formed? How to prevent conjoined twins?

How conjoined twins are formed

It is generally explained that conjoined twins are formed when the two embryonic cells of the same fertilized egg do not completely separate when they split into an oocyte, which usually happens in the first two weeks of pregnancy.

Conjoined twins are caused by incomplete early division of the fertilized egg. They are more common in females than males, with a ratio of 3:1. Normally, the fertilized egg splits into two 8 to 12 days after fertilization. If it splits between 13 and 15 days, conjoined twins will appear. Because they are so rare, the ratio is between 1 in 50,000 and 1 in 200,000. The specific reason is still unclear. It is only known that they are more common in Latin Americans than in Europeans and Americans, and more common in South Asia and Africa than in other regions. There are no obvious symptoms to detect conjoined twins during pregnancy. They may grow too fast, and pregnant women are more prone to fatigue, nausea, and vomiting in the early stages of pregnancy. Conjoined twins can be detected by routine ultrasound in the first stage of labor.

Conjoined twins are mostly connected at the chest, pelvis, head and hips, and may share one or more internal organs. In rare cases, one may be larger than the other and develop unevenly. Conjoined twins must be delivered by caesarean section, and about 40% to 60% of them are stillborn. The remaining 35% can only survive for one day, and only half can survive to the point of separation.

How to prevent conjoined twins

Many conjoined twins share one body, but there are very few conjoined twins that can be successfully separated in the world. If you want to prevent this unfortunate occurrence, you must supplement folic acid before pregnancy. Folic acid is an essential nutrient for the human body, and strengthening folic acid supplementation can reduce the chance of fetal malformations.

At the same time, regular prenatal check-ups are necessary. Once conjoined twins are discovered, do not be reluctant to give them up. Induced labor must be performed. Otherwise, after the birth of the child, it will not only be the parents who will suffer, but also the child itself. For conjoined twins, the chance of survival after birth is very low. As the saying goes, a short pain is worse than a long pain. When the child is in the womb, the mother does not have too many emotions with it, so the sadness can be reduced. For example, if the child dies after birth, a lot of pain can be reduced. After all, it is not easy to be pregnant for ten months. Generally speaking, it is possible to check whether the fetus has deformities or missing limbs at 20 weeks of pregnancy. It is the wisest choice to terminate the pregnancy as soon as possible if the deformity is discovered.

Can conjoined twins be diagnosed?

Conjoined twins are a rare congenital malformation. A doctor with more than 20 years of experience in fetal malformation screening said that conjoined twins can be detected through prenatal screening.

Prenatal screening is usually divided into three stages. Pregnant women can do the initial screening during the 11-13 weeks + 6 days of pregnancy. The examination at this stage mainly observes the general structure of the fetus and whether the fetal trunk and limbs are intact.

The 18th to 24th week of pregnancy is the time period for key examinations. Pregnant women should go to a regular hospital for a full-body screening of the fetus. More than 90% of fetal malformations will be manifested at this stage.

In addition, if there are abnormalities in the fetal digestive tract or limb length, another routine test should be performed within 32-36 weeks of pregnancy to make up for the fetal abnormalities that did not appear in the previous two times. Once fetal malformations are found, measures can be taken to induce labor as soon as possible.