Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of short umbilical cord in a dichorionic twin with normal fetal anatomy

Short umbilical cords are associated with fetal anomalies, often including those with decreased or absent fetal movement, fetal akinesia/hypokinesia sequence, and restrictive dermopathies and aneuploidy. In normal fetuses, abnormally short umbilical cords have been associated with an increased risk of umbilical vessel hematomas, thrombosis, rupture, thrombocytopenia, cord compression, variable fetal heart rate decelerations, instrumental and operative deliveries, and fetal demise. We report a 24‐year‐old gravida 2, para 0 with a concordant dichorionic twin gestation, at 26 weeks' gestation, in whom sonography depicted fetuses with normal‐appearing anatomy as well as short umbilical cord of the 1st twin. Increased fetal surveillance was conducted. Following delivery at 36 weeks' gestation, the presence of a short umbilical cord of the 1st twin measuring 19 cm was confirmed. Systematic review of the literature confirms that this is the first report of prenatal diagnosis of a short umbilical cord in an otherwise normal fetus. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 2010