Purpose: In order to assess the outcome of pregnancies complicated by severe twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) undergoing treatment with endoscopic laser surgery in Taiwan,
METHODS: Patients presenting with monochorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancies complicated by severe TTTS before 26 weeks of gestation and received endoscopic laser surgery to coagulate placental vascular anastomoses were included. The perinatal outcomes were reported.
Result: From October 2005 to March 2009, 31 consecutive cases of severe TTTS were operated .Overall, both twins were born alive in 11 cases (, only one twin was born alive in 14, and neither was born alive in the remaining 7. Therefore, 78.1 % (25 of 32) of the pregnancies resulted in at least one liveborn infant. Of the 36 surviving babies, 3 (8.3%) babies show evidence of severe neurological sequence with periventricular leukomalacia detected by MRI examination.
CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary experience suggests that selective laser coagulation appears to be a good treatment for severe TTTS.