OBJECTIVE:

Description of the anatomopathological and placental findings in a series of autopsies of 5 conjoined twins.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Series of cases of autopsies performed between 2013-2018 of patients between 14-30 weeks of gestation, with diagnosis of conjoined twins.

RESULTS:

Five cases of conjoined twins, product of multiparous mothers, 3 of these presented intrauterine death and 2 deaths within a few minutes of life. Three cases corresponded to ventral junctions (2 thoracoomphalopagus and 1 cephalopagus) and two to lateral junctions of parapagus type. A single heart was observed in the thoracoomphalopagus twins and separated cardiac systems in the remaining three where there was distal aortic fusion. In 4 cases the liver was found fused with two independent bile ducts. The umbilical cords of the cases of ventral union presented 5 blood vessels; those with lateral junction presented a trivascular umbilical cord. The placentas showed varying degrees of preuterine hypoxic pattern and changes of Maternal Vascular malperfusion of the Placental Bed.

CONCLUSIONS:

Ventral fusions have varying degrees of shared structures; the greater the fusion of the internal organs, the smaller the number of umbilical vessels will be. Of the proposed etiological theories, it is the so-called spherical theory, which best supports the variable degrees of fusion and how it can be saltatory on the vertical axis.

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