Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Twin pregnancy in mares - one foal survives after abortion
By Derbala, M K et al.·Published in Journal of equine veterinary science·2024·Animal Reproduction Research Institute·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A case of a twin surviving to term following the abortion of its co-twin at 9 months in an Arabian mare.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In this case, a 7-year-old Egyptian Arabian mare was pregnant with twins, which is often a risky situation that can lead to abortion of both fetuses. At 9 months into the pregnancy, one of the twin foals was aborted, but surprisingly, the other twin continued to develop and was born healthy. The aborted foal was smaller than expected for its gestational age, suggesting it was not as developed as its surviving twin. Tests confirmed that both foals were from the same parents. This case is notable because it shows that sometimes, one twin can survive even after the other is lost.
Abstract
Twin pregnancy in mares is one of the leading causes of abortions. Abortion invariably impacts both fetuses. This report describes an unusual case of a twin surviving to term following the abortion of its co-twin at 9 months in a 7-year-old Egyptian Arabian mare. At the time of abortion at 9 months of gestation, the size of the aborted fetus was equivalent to one of approximately 5 months of age while the age of the live co-twin was 9 months. Both fetuses were males. A skin sample was collected from the aborted fetus and hair samples were collected from the dam, sire and live foal for parentage analysis. The parentage analysis confirmed that both fetuses were by the same dam and sire stallion. The authors suggest several scenarios to explain this condition. This report describes a unique case of a twin surviving to term following the abortion of its co-twin at 9 months in a mare.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38897332/