Selective fetal growth restriction in dichorionic diamniotic twin pregnancy: systematic review and meta-analysis of pregnancy and perinatal outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Most of the published literature on selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR) has focused on monochorionic twin pregnancies. The aim of this systematic review was to report on the outcome of dichorionic diamniotic (DCDA) twin pregnancies complicated by sFGR. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library databases were searched. The inclusion criteria were DCDA twin pregnancies complicated by sFGR. The outcomes explored were intrauterine death (IUD), neonatal death and perinatal death (PND), survival of at least one and both twins, preterm birth (PTB) (either spontaneous or iatrogenic) prior to 37, 34, 32 and 28 weeks' gestation, pre-eclampsia (PE) or gestational hypertension, neurological, respiratory and infectious morbidity, Apgar score < 7 at 5 min, necrotizing enterocolitis, retinopathy of prematurity and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A composite outcome of neonatal morbidity, defined as the occurrence of respiratory, neurological or infectious morbidity, was also evaluated. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to analyze the data, and results are reported as pooled proportion or odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI. RESULTS: Thirteen studies reporting on 1339 pregnancies with sFGR and 6316 pregnancies without sFGR were included. IUD occurred in 2.6% (95% CI, 1.1-4.7%) of fetuses from DCDA pregnancies with sFGR and 0.6% (95% CI, 0.3-9.7%) of those from DCDA pregnancies without sFGR, while the respective values for PND were 5.2% (95% CI, 3.5-7.3%) and 1.7% (95% CI, 0.1-5.7%). Spontaneous or iatrogenic PTB before 37 weeks complicated 84.1% (95% CI, 55.6-99.2%) of pregnancies with sFGR and 69.1% (95% CI, 45.4-88.4%) of those without sFGR. The respective values for PTB before 34, 32 and 28 weeks were 18.4% (95% CI, 4.4-38.9%), 13.0% (95% CI, 9.5-17.1%) and 1.5% (95% CI, 0.6-2.3%) in pregnancies with sFGR and 10.2% (95% CI, 3.1-20.7%), 7.8% (95% CI, 6.8-9.0%) and 1.8% (95% CI, 1.3-2.4%) in those without sFGR. PE or gestational hypertension complicated 19.9% (95% CI, 12.4-28.6%) of pregnancies with sFGR and 12.8% (95% CI, 10.4-15.4%) of those without sFGR. Composite morbidity occurred in 28.2% (95% CI, 7.8-55.1%) of fetuses from pregnancies with sFGR and 13.9% (95% CI, 6.5-23.5%) of those from pregnancies without sFGR. When stratified according to the sFGR status within a twin pair, composite morbidity occurred in 39.0% (95% CI, 11.1-71.5%) of growth-restricted fetuses and 29.9% (95% CI, 3.5-65.0%) of appropriately grown fetuses (OR, 1.9 (95% CI, 1.7-3.1)), while the respective values for PND were 3.0% (95% CI, 1.8-4.5%) and 1.6% (95% CI, 0.9-2.6%) (OR, 2.1 (95% CI, 1.0-4.1)). On risk analysis, DCDA pregnancies complicated by sFGR had a significantly higher risk of IUD (OR, 5.2 (95% CI, 3.2-8.6)) and composite morbidity or admission to the NICU (OR, 3.2 (95% CI, 1.9-5.6)) compared to those without sFGR, while there was no difference in the risk of PTB before 34 weeks (P = 0.220) or PE/gestational hypertension (P = 0.210). CONCLUSIONS: DCDA twin pregnancies complicated by sFGR are at high risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality. The findings of this systematic review are relevant for counseling and management of complicated DCDA twin pregnancies, in which twin-specific, rather than singleton, outcome data should be used. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Neurodevelopmental outcome in complicated twin pregnancy: prospective observational study.

OBJECTIVE: Twin pregnancy is associated with increased perinatal mortality and morbidity, but long-term neurodevelopmental outcome remains underinvestigated. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the incidence of adverse neurodevelopment after 1 year of age in complicated monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twin pregnancies compared with uncomplicated twin pregnancies. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study conducted at St George's University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. Women with a twin pregnancy culminating in at least one surviving child, aged between 12 and 60 months (corrected for prematurity) at the time of assessment, were invited to complete the relevant Ages and Stages Questionnaire® version 3 (ASQ-3) test. The two study groups were: (1) complicated MCDA twin pregnancies, including those with twin-twin transfusion syndrome, twin anemia-polycythemia sequence, selective fetal growth restriction, twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence and/or single intrauterine demise; and (2) uncomplicated MCDA and dichorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies. The primary outcome measure was an abnormal ASQ-3 score, defined as a score of more than 2 SD below the mean in any one of the five domains. Mixed-effects multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether a complicated MCDA twin pregnancy was associated independently with an abnormal ASQ-3 score. RESULTS: The study included 174 parents who completed the questionnaire for one or both twins; therefore, 327 ASQ-3 questionnaires were available for analysis. Of those, 117 (35.8%) were complicated MCDA twin pregnancies and 210 (64.2%) were controls. The overall rate of an abnormal ASQ-3 score in children born of a complicated MCDA twin pregnancy was nearly double that of those from uncomplicated twin pregnancies (14.5% vs 7.6%; P = 0.056). Children born of a complicated MCDA twin pregnancy had a significantly higher rate of impairment in the gross-motor domain compared with the control group (8.5% vs 2.9%; P = 0.031). Complicated MCDA twin pregnancies that underwent prenatal intervention had a significantly higher rate of abnormal ASQ-3 score compared with those that did not undergo prenatal intervention (28.1% vs 1.7%; P < 0.001). On multilevel logistic regression analysis, complicated MCDA twin pregnancy was an independent predictor of abnormal ASQ-3 score (adjusted odds ratio, 3.28 (95% CI, 3.27-3.29); P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that survivors of complicated MCDA twin pregnancies have a higher rate of adverse neurodevelopmental outcome, independently of prematurity. Long-term neurodevelopmental follow-up in these pregnancies can ensure timely and optimal management of those affected. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

High prevalence of autoimmune diseases in women with endometriosis: a case-control study.

The immune system seems to be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Peritoneal chronic inflammation is present and natural killer cells and macrophages abnormalities have been reported in women with the disease. Moreover, a higher production of serum autoantibodies has been found, which could be related to various factors; some still need to be clarified. The correlation between endometriosis and autoimmune diseases is still unclear with few and conflicting available data. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of autoimmune diseases, as conditions with a possible common pathogenetic factor, in women affected by endometriosis, in order to address future research on its pathogenesis. This retrospective case-control study includes one hundred and forty-eight women with endometriosis and 150 controls. All women were aged between 18 and 45. Informed consent was obtained from all participants of the study. Considered autoimmune diseases include systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), celiac disease (CD), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and autoimmune thyroiditis. Statistical comparison of patients and control group was performed by means of chi-square test or Fisher's exact test as appropriate. Statistical comparison of parametric variable (age) among the groups was performed by t-test for unpaired data. Age was expressed as mean. A value of .05 or less was considered as significant. In the case group, five patients were affected by IBD, while the disease was not observed in the control group (p = .07). SLE was found in eight patients in the case group, while only one was found in the control group (p = .01). Fifteen women in the case group were affected by CD, while the disease was present only in one woman in the control group (p<.0001). A significant correlation was also found between endometriosis and autoimmune thyroiditis: 80 patients with endometriosis had thyroid diseases versus 14 patients in the control group (p<.0001). Our study reports an association between endometriosis and autoimmune disorders, showing a higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases in women affected by endometriosis. These results support a possible autoimmune pathogenesis of endometriosis.