PS-019 Childhood Cardiac Outcome Of Twin-twin Transfusion Syndrome After Intrauterine Laser Treatment: An Echocardiographic Study Of Ventricular Function

Abstract

Background and aim Intrauterine laser treatment of placental vessels is used to alleviate abnormal circulatory load and cardiac morbidity affecting fetuses with twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). As the final cardiac outcome after such intervention is not known, we conducted this childhood follow-up study of cardiac function in twins treated with intrauterine laser for TTTS. Methods and results Nineteen TTTS pairs (11 male, 8 female) with a mean age of 4.5 (range 1.1–9.9) years were assessed with echocardiography 2D, Doppler, DTI, 3D and speckle tracking, and compared with nineteen age- and gender-matched singletons. Recipients had a lower left ventricular E/A ratio compared with their donor twins [1.48(0.35) vs. 1.66(0.28), p Conclusion Despite significantly different fetal cardiac loading conditions, survivors of laser-treated TTTS show only minor within-pair differences in diastolic cardiac function at follow-up. Cardiac function in TTTS twins compare well to singleton controls, suggesting a favourable long-term outcome.