It has been hypothesized that cerebral palsy of unknown etiology is the result of the death of an unrecognized co-twin--a vanishing twin--in early gestation. We conducted a case-control study of vanishing twin as a risk factor for cerebral palsy of unknown etiology in women who had an obstetric ultrasound during pregnancy. Among mothers of cases, one of 86 had evidence of a vanishing twin on ultrasound, as compared to two of 381 control mothers (odds ratio OR 2.2, 95\% confidence interval CI 0.2-24.8; p = 0.5). Bleeding in early pregnancy, which may indicate the loss of a co-twin, was reported by 14 case mothers and 46 control mothers (OR 1.6, 95\% CI 0.8-3.0; p = 0.3). On the basis of results presented here, the vanishing twin syndrome is unlikely to account for a high proportion of cases of cerebral palsy, but there is insufficient statistical power to draw firm conclusions.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Newton2003
%A Newton, Robert
%A Casabonne, Delphine
%A Johnson, Ann
%A Pharoah, Peter
%D 2003
%J Twin Res
%K Adult; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Palsy; Diseases in Twins; Female; Fetal Resorption; Gestational Age; Humans; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Ultrasonography, Prenatal
%N 2
%P 83--84
%R 10.1375/136905203321536191
%T A case-control study of vanishing twin as a risk factor for cerebral palsy.
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1375/136905203321536191
%V 6
%X It has been hypothesized that cerebral palsy of unknown etiology is the result of the death of an unrecognized co-twin--a vanishing twin--in early gestation. We conducted a case-control study of vanishing twin as a risk factor for cerebral palsy of unknown etiology in women who had an obstetric ultrasound during pregnancy. Among mothers of cases, one of 86 had evidence of a vanishing twin on ultrasound, as compared to two of 381 control mothers (odds ratio OR 2.2, 95\% confidence interval CI 0.2-24.8; p = 0.5). Bleeding in early pregnancy, which may indicate the loss of a co-twin, was reported by 14 case mothers and 46 control mothers (OR 1.6, 95\% CI 0.8-3.0; p = 0.3). On the basis of results presented here, the vanishing twin syndrome is unlikely to account for a high proportion of cases of cerebral palsy, but there is insufficient statistical power to draw firm conclusions.
@article{Newton2003,
abstract = {It has been hypothesized that cerebral palsy of unknown etiology is the result of the death of an unrecognized co-twin--a vanishing twin--in early gestation. We conducted a case-control study of vanishing twin as a risk factor for cerebral palsy of unknown etiology in women who had an obstetric ultrasound during pregnancy. Among mothers of cases, one of 86 had evidence of a vanishing twin on ultrasound, as compared to two of 381 control mothers (odds ratio [OR] 2.2, 95\% confidence interval [CI] 0.2-24.8; p = 0.5). Bleeding in early pregnancy, which may indicate the loss of a co-twin, was reported by 14 case mothers and 46 control mothers (OR 1.6, 95\% CI 0.8-3.0; p = 0.3). On the basis of results presented here, the vanishing twin syndrome is unlikely to account for a high proportion of cases of cerebral palsy, but there is insufficient statistical power to draw firm conclusions.},
added-at = {2014-07-19T20:55:44.000+0200},
author = {Newton, Robert and Casabonne, Delphine and Johnson, Ann and Pharoah, Peter},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2d0efeffd0aa44a31554e0d92e8f36cc3/ar0berts},
doi = {10.1375/136905203321536191},
groups = {public},
interhash = {f0696a311e3e51fb41142f24a6cd42c6},
intrahash = {d0efeffd0aa44a31554e0d92e8f36cc3},
journal = {Twin Res},
keywords = {Adult; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Palsy; Diseases in Twins; Female; Fetal Resorption; Gestational Age; Humans; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Ultrasonography, Prenatal},
month = Apr,
number = 2,
pages = {83--84},
pmid = {12723993},
timestamp = {2014-07-19T20:55:44.000+0200},
title = {A case-control study of vanishing twin as a risk factor for cerebral palsy.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1375/136905203321536191},
username = {ar0berts},
volume = 6,
year = 2003
}