| Abstract: | With the increasing incidence of multifetal gestations, it is essential for the clinician to appreciate the benefit of ultrasound evaluation in these pregnancies. Multifetal gestation pregnancies are at increased risk for a range of both antepartum and intrapartum complications, such as intrauterine growth restriction, premature delivery, congenital anomalies, cord accidents, malpresentations, placenta previa, and abruptio placentae. First-trimester ultrasonic evaluation, amniotic fluid assessment, monitoring of fetal growth, diagnosing the twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, and assessment of fetal anomalies will be reviewed. An early and accurate assessment of amnionicity and chorionicity are paramount in these gestations. The impact of chorionicity, in particular, can have profound consequences in the management of multifetal gestations. The determination of chorionicity onultrasonic evaluation in a multifetal gestations. The determination of chorionicity on ultrasonic evaluation in a multifetal pregnancy should be determined in a systematic way between 10-14 weeks' gestation. The amniotic fluid volume should be routinely assessed when performing an ultrasonic evaluation in a multifetal pregnancy. Amniotic fluid changes may serve as the only useful indicator to a potential pathological condition. In addition, evaluation of fetal growth in twins is essential, because these pregnancies are at increased risk for growth restriction and increased perinatal mortality rates compared to singletons. Finally, a careful anatomical evaluation in mulitifetal gestation is important because twin pregnancies have higher rates of anomalies than their singleton counterparts. |
