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Twinning Mechanisms and Zygosity Determination

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Pathology of Multiple Pregnancy

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Abstract

Our concepts of the possible mechanisms of twinning, the rates of these different mechanisms, and the factors that influence those rates have developed considerably in recent years with the aid of technical advances in two disciplines—prenatal diagnosis and DNA analysis. The increasing use of ultrasound examination in early pregnancy has identified far more pregnancies that begin with a multiple gestation than pregnancies that actually end with multiple infants delivered (see Chapter 5). Studies to date suggest that much of this early loss is of one particular type of twins, so our concepts of the rates of the different mechanisms of twinning may need to be revised. Also, it used to be that twins either looked alike (identical) or not (fraternal) and that was all that could be said. Now, it is possible to determine which parent provided a specific portion of the genome in each twin, and subtle and unusual varieties of biologic mechanisms of twinning that were only theoretical constructs before can be refuted or confirmed (see below). Finally, the influences governing twinning are increasing as the modes of twinning multiply.

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  1. Department of Pathology, British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital, 4480 Oak Street, V6H 3V4, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

    Virginia J. Baldwin M.D.

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Baldwin, V.J. (1994). Twinning Mechanisms and Zygosity Determination. In: Pathology of Multiple Pregnancy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9514-0_2

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