Neurological sequelae Archives - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

Purpose: to analyze the effects of prenatal and perinatal complications and the neurological development of surviving twins when the other had died in utero. Methods: fourteen cases of twin pregnancies where one of the twins had died during the pregnancy were analyzed. These patients gave birth between 1988 and 1994 and were subsequently followed-up by the Department of Obstetrics, Pathology Division, at the Hospital das Clínicas, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo. Data from prenatal and perinatal records as well as findings from the deceased twins' autopsies were analyzed. In 1996, requests were made for the children to have a neurological examination as part of the study. The examination included developmental assessment and pathological signs in the motor, sensory and sensitivy areas and superior cortical functions such as praxis and agnosia. Results: ten of the fourteen contacted subjects complied with the request for neurological examination. Of the ten examined children only one had abnormal neurological findings, presenting a light degree of spastic paresis of the left leg. The pregnancy evaluation showed five cases of monochorionic placenta and one case of monoamnionic pregnancy; six of the fourteen cases reached full-term. In six cases (42.8%) one of the fetus died during the second trimester and in the other they died during the third trimester. Only one newborn, who had Apgar 0 at the first minute, developed neurological sequelae. Conclusion: the neurological problem of one fetus may be a consequence of the perinatal complications that this fetus developed. The other newborns did not develop sequelae, possibly because of the conservatory management, trying to make the pregnancy reach 32 weeks or more, thus decreasing the complications of preterm delivery.