By Hannah Fell, Digital Managing Editor

The occurrence of conjoined twins isn’t common. Research about the development varies, but some sources suggest that the birth of conjoined twins can happen 1 in every 75,000 births, while others suggest every 50,000 to 200,000 births, and out of the latter number, 60% are stillbirths.^1,2 Conjoined twins result from an embryo that doesn’t divide completely after day 13 of fertilization.^2,3

Vita Boyar, MD, presents her poster “Minimizing complications in post-separation care of omphalogpagus conjoined twins with hydrophobic technology” at SAWC Spring 2023 in National Harbor, MD, on April 26-30, 2023. Notably, conjoined twins are named for the area that they are connected. Conjoined twins are most frequently joined at both the abdomen and thorax, known as thoraco-omphalopagus.² One of the least common types is the omphalopagus conjoined twin, with only a connection at the abdomen. Dr. Boyar’s poster describes a case study of omphalopagus-conjoined twins born at the Cohen Children's Medical Center. They required “early (DOL 6) separation secondary to clinical instability due to twin-to-twin ex-utero transfusion.”¹

In this case, her poster describes how her team addressed the treatment of omphalogpagus-conjoined twins. In the end, they achieved wound closure (after separating the twins) for the patients using hydrophobic technology after noticing the patients’ skin was colonized with Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSS). After about 2 weeks, the hospital discharged the patients without any complications. Her poster details the case in more depth, including skin care challenges with the case, along with key conclusions from it as well.

References

1. Boyar V. Minimizing complications in post-separation care of omphalopagus conjoined twins with hydrophobic technology. Poster presented at: The Symposium on Advanced Wound Care; April 26-30, 2023; National Harbor, MD.
2. Afzal AR, Montero FJ. Conjoined Twins. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560839/
3. Newman RB, Ramsey Unal E. Multiple Gestations. In: Gabbe SG, Niebyl JR, Simpson JL, et al. Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2017:468-498.