Developmental and Fetal Origins of Differences in Monozygotic Twins

Dr. Alexandra Matias is Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Porto Medical School, and Senior Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Specialist in Fetal Medicine at University Hospital of S. João Porto, Portugal. Dr. Matias completed her PhD in Medicine at the University of Porto with the thesis "Venous return in the evaluation of fetal heart function,” and also completed a Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung Fellowship at the Pharmakologisches Institute in Heidelberg, Germany. She currently advises 6 doctorate and 12 master's degrees in Medicine, and served as the PhD jury president at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona. Dr. Matias has published widely in such peer reviewed journals as Twin Research and Human Genetics, Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Journal of Perinatal Medicine, the Journal of Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, and the European Journal of Pharmacology. Isaac Blickstein is Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Affiliated with the Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel

1. Introduction

2. Biology of monozygotic twinning

3. Mechanisms of discordance in

monozygotic twins: why and when?

4. Monozygotic twins in history:

enlightenment by mythology and

ethnography

5. Genetics and epigenetics differences in

monozygotic twins: the vision of the

geneticist

6. Heterokaryotypic monozygotic twins

7. Differences in placentation in

monochorionic twin pregnancies

8. Differences in growth: selective

intrauterine growth restriction in

monochorionic twins

9. Hemoglobin differences at birth in

monochorionic twins

10. Differences in amniotic fluid in MZ

twins

11. Twin-reversed arterial perfusion

sequence: different identical twins

12. Major discordant anomalies in

monozygotic twins: management and

outcome

13. Congenital heart disease in

monozygotic twins

14. Spotting the differences in the

first trimester of pregnancy in MZ twins:

the issue of aneuploidies and TTTS

screening

15. Noninvasive prenatal screening in

twin pregnancies

16. A new way to look at multiples: the

power of image

17. Differences in monozygotic twins: the

implications of diet and intestinal

microbioma

18. Differences in development in

monozygotic twins

19. Monozygotic twins: a personal as

well as a criminal and jurisdictional

approach

20. Monozygotic twin differences in

perceived age

21. The environmental differences

between twins in utero and their

importance for downstream development: a

need for standardized monitoring in

obstetric research

22. Future perspectives