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Conjoined Twins

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Clinical Embryology

Abstract

Conjoined twin pregnancy is a rare embryologic event with an overall prevalence of 1.4 per 100,000 births. Its prevalence shows a marked variation among different countries, from as high as 3.22 per 100,000 births in Finland to as low as less than 0.08 per 100,000 births in northeast of Italy [1]. It occurs in about 1% of monozygotic twins. Conjoined twins are mostly premature with 3:1 female predominance. Management difficulties are primarily related to the conjoined organs and the abnormal hemodynamic circulation. Survival depends on the type, the shared organs, the associated anomalies, and the chosen time and modality of management.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to dedicate this chapter to the memory of the late Professor Alaa Fayez Hamza on behalf of all his trainees, colleagues, and friends, for his overwhelming dedication to the care of sick children and to the pediatric surgical training.

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Correspondence to Mohamed Sameh Shalaby .

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Abdel-Latif, M., Shalaby, M.S., Elhay, S.A. (2019). Conjoined Twins. In: Carachi, R., Doss, S. (eds) Clinical Embryology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26158-4_50

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26158-4_50

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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