Article Text
Abstract
Objectives The main aim of this study was to ascertain the performance of BW and ultrasound EFW discordance in the prediction of perinatal loss in twin pregnancies.
Methods A retrospective study of all twin pregnancy births from a large regional cohort of 9 hospitals over a ten year period. Inter-twin BW and ultrasound EFW discordance were related to stillbirth and neonatal death of one or both twins obtained from a mandatory national register. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC), survival and logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the contribution of weight discordance in determining perinatal loss.
Results A total of 2,161 twin pregnancies were included in the analysis. A BW discordance of ≥25% was associated with the highest AUC for the prediction of stillbirth and neonatal death (BW AUC = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.65–0.80). The perinatal loss in twins with a BW discordance of ≥25% was significantly greater (60.9 per 1,000 fetuses) than that in twins with an EFW discordance <25% (8.6 per 1,000 fetuses) (p < 0.0001); the predictive accuracy was similar using either BW or ultrasound EFW discordance (EFW AUC = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.62–0.77, p = 0.62). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that BW discordance and gestational age, but not chorionicity or individual fetal size percentile, were independently associated with perinatal mortality.
Conclusions An EFW discordance of ≥25% represents the optimal cut-off for the prediction of stillbirth and neonatal mortality irrespective of chorionicity or individual fetal size. A policy of increased fetal surveillance commencing from 26 weeks’ gestation and elective delivery by 38 weeks might be reasonable.