Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2010;32(6):260-266
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032010000600002
PURPOSE: to describe the maternal complications due to therapeutic endoscopic procedures in fetal Medicine performed at an university center in Brazil. METHODS: retrospective observational study including patients treated from April 2007 to May 2010 who underwent laser ablation of placental vessels (LAPV) for severe twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS); fetal tracheal occlusion (FETO) and endoscopic removal of tracheal balloon in cases of severe congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH); LAPV with or without bipolar coagulation of the umbilical cord in cases of twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence. The main variables described for each disease/type of surgery were maternal complications and neonatal survival (discharge from nursery). RESULTS: fifty-six patients underwent 70 procedures: Severe TTTS (34 patients; 34 surgeries); severe CDH (16 patients; 30 surgeries), and TRAP sequence (6 patients; 6 surgeries). Among 34 women who underwent LAPV for TTTS, two (2/34=5.9%) experienced amniotic fluid leakage to the peritoneal cavity and seven (7/34=20.6%) miscarried after the procedure. Survival of at least one twin was 64.7% (22/34). Among 30 interventions performed in cases of CDH, there was amniotic fluid leakage into the maternal peritoneal cavity in one patient (1/30=3.3%) and premature preterm rupture of membranes after three (3/30=30%) fetoscopies for removal of the tracheal balloon. Infant survival with discharge from nursery was 43.8% (7/16). Among six cases of TRAP sequence, there was bleeding into the peritoneal cavity after surgery in one patient (1/6=16.7%) and neonatal survival with discharge from nursery was 50% (3/6). CONCLUSIONS: in agreement with the available data in literature, at our center, the benefits related to therapeutic endoscopic interventions for TTTS, CDH and TRAP sequence seem to overcome the risks of maternal complications, which were rarely considered severe.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2010;32(5):214-221
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032010000500003
PURPOSE: to describe the results of laser ablation of placental vessels for the treatment of severe twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome in an university center in Brazil. METHODS: retrospective observational study of patients treated at UNICAMP from 2007 to 2009. Laser ablation of placental vessels was performed in cases of severe twin-twin transfusion syndrome (Quintero stages II, III and IV) diagnosed before 26 complete weeks of gestation. The main variables evaluated in this series were gestational age at delivery, survival (discharge from the nursery) of at least one twin and neurological damage in survivors. Logistic regression was used to investigate the influence of cervical length, gestational age and stage of the disease (before the surgery) on the occurrence of delivery/abortion and fetal death after the intervention, and the influence on severe preterm birth and survival. RESULTS: in the whole series, at least one twin survived in 63.3% of cases (19/30). Among patients who did not have delivery/abortion after surgery, the survival of at least one twin was 82.6% (19/23). In this subgroup (n=23), mean gestational age in delivery was 31.9 weeks and neurological damage was identified in one neonate (1/31; 3.2%). Cervix length influenced the occurrence of delivery/abortion after surgery (p-value=0.008). Among seven patients (7/30; 23.3%) who carried this complication, five (5/7; 71.4%) had cervix length lower than 15 mm. Among the 23 patients who did not have delivery/abortion as a result of the surgery, the highest stages of the disease (III and IV) increased the risk of delivery prior to 32 complete weeks of gestation (p-value=0.025) and decreased the chance of survival of both twins (p-value=0.026). CONCLUSIONS: the results are similar to those available in the literature. In our series, the main factors associated with poorer results were short cervix (lower than 15 mm) and the highest stages of the disease (III and IV) at the time of the treatment.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2009;31(6):273-278
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032009000600002
PURPOSE: to evaluate the evolution of monochorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancies with and without the twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), followed up in an expectant way. METHODS: retrospective study in which the pregnancies with and without TTTS and with mild (Quintero's stage I) and severe (Quintero's stages II, III, IV and V) disease manifestations were compared according to extreme preterm delivery, neurological impairment and the twins' nursery discharge. The extreme preterm twins who had had TTTS, or not, were compared whether they had or not neurological impairment. The χ2 or Fisher's exact test were used. RESULTS: among 149 monochorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancies, 15 presented TTTS, 11 (11/15 - 73.3%) in the severe form and 4 (4/15 - 26.7%) at stage I. The extreme preterm delivery was more frequent (p<0.001) in the cases with the disease (11/15 - 73.3%) than in the cases without it (25/134 - 18.7%), and more common (p=0.033) in severe (10/11 - 91.1%) than in mild cases (1/4 - 25.0%). Neurological impairment in at least one twin was more frequent in cases with (5/8 - 62.5%) than in cases without (9/134 - 6.7%) the disease (p<0.001). Nursery discharge of at least one twin was more common (p<0.001) in cases without (132/134 - 98.5%) than in cases with the disease (8/15 - 53.0%). Neurological impairment in at least one of the twins was more frequent (p=0.04) in the severe (5/5 - 100%) than in the mild (1/4 - 25%) form of the disease. Nursery discharge of both twins was more common (p=0.004) at stage I (4/4 - 100%), than in the severe form of the disease (1/11 - 9.0%). Among the 47 extreme preterm twins, the neurological impairment was more frequent (p=0.001) among the ones who had (6/6 - 100%), than among those who did not have TTTS (11/41 - 26.8%). CONCLUSIONS: cases with twin-twin transfusion syndrome, followed up in an expectant way have bad perinatal prognosis, with high neonatal mortality and high rates of neurological arrest among the survivors.