Abstract
Objective:
To determine an appropriate cutoff value to differentiate physiologic and pathologic
birth weight discordance, to determine the prevalence of birth weight discordance
≥25% among twin pregnancies in different sub-populations, and to examine its clinical
significance.
Study design:
Historical cohort study of 147,262 twin sets registered in the United States between
1995 and 1997.
Results:
The prevalence of birth weight discordance ≥25% among twin pregnancies was 8.6%. The
prevalence of birth weight discordance ≥25% was significantly decreased with increasing
total twin birth weight deciles, was more frequently found in twins with discordant
gender (9.1%) than in those twins with concordant gender (8.3%) and in mothers whose
age was 30 years or older (9.1%) than those of younger mothers (8.1%). Birth weight
discordance ≥25% was associated with earlier gestational age at delivery (35.0 weeks
versus 36.0 weeks) and higher neonatal mortality (5.4% versus 2.3%) as compared to
twins with lower birth weight discordance.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of birth weight discordance ≥25% among twin pregnancies was 8.6%, which
is associated with lower gestational age at delivery and higher neonatal mortality
rates, and may represent a pathologic process.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
October 11,
2004
Received in revised form:
September 9,
2004
Received:
June 25,
2004
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
