WTEN: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports - Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome - 8/5/02 (Updated 9/13/02)

Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome - 8/5/02 (Updated 9/13/02)

**A follow up to to this story NEWS10 brought to you a few weeks ago about a rare condition that affects multiple pregnancies, called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Tomorrow, Saturday, September 14th, 2002, Conor's Run will be held in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The 5K-run is held in honor of Conor Archibald, who died just short of his fourth birthday from complications of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. You can learn more about the Syndrome and the 5K-run by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.**

A Williamstown woman is on a campaign to inform every mother expecting twins about a syndrome that can claim the life of a baby while it's still in the womb. The medical problem is called twin to twin transfusion syndrome. It's a disease of the placenta that affects multiple pregnancies. Bernadette Archibald is spreading the word that a medical breakthrough can treat the condition and save tiny lives.

Three weeks before his 4th birthday, on January 1st 2001, Conor J. Archibald died of complications related to twin to twin transfusion syndrome. His mother Bernadette says "he went in his sleep. He was with his family. But I always imagined me holding him or something set up with me." Conor's parents, Bernadette and Dave Archibald, say they'd never heard of the syndrome until she was about to give birth prematurely at a hospital not far from their Williamst

Dr. David Clark, the Chairman of Pediatrics at Albany Medical Center, is not familiar with the Archibald case, but has seen identical twins endangered by twin to twin transfusion syndrome in which the blood vessels connect from one baby to another in the placenta. Other times, the problem develops when blood passes from a twin to the placenta then on to the second twin. The results are the same, the recipient twin grows too quickly and the donor twin fails to thrive. Dr. Clark says, "the baby that's under grown tends to be more affect

Bernadette's doctor didn't think her discomfort was unusual. If he had he might have ordered ultrasounds to reveal the difference in photos of two babies in twin size so that action album can be taken to help the twins. "If they can withdraw amniotic fluid they know that right away, there's certain times throughout the pregnancy that they can withdraw amniotic fluid from the larger baby which takes away a lot of the pressure and also helps the smaller baby to continue growing. Donor twin often dies from anemia. The recipient twin often dies from heart failure," says B

Dr. Clark says, "because they're identical twins, the blood vessels connect from one baby to another in the placenta." Dr. Clark also says a breakthrough technique called laser photo coagulation can help identical twins developing with TTTS. In order for this to work Dr. Clark says "obviously you have to have identical twins to have a fused placenta. In that situation, what your doing is disrupting the blood vessels that connect one side of the placenta to the other side of the placenta. In that way we're preventing blood flowing from side to the other. It's something now still very uncommonly used." The Archibalds think it might become more common if more pe

Conor's twin brother Patrick and his older sisters speak of fading memories of their brother. Their parents are planning the Second Annual Conor's Run for next month. The Archibals say 500 people raised 15k and many are people who never even heard of what TTTS was. Now thousands have heard about it just from that one event. The race is coming up on Saturday September 14th. The Archibalds hope the event will raise awareness about TTTS and raise money to help expectant moms get the care they need.

For more information on Conor's Run and Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, click on www.conorsrun.com or www.tttsmd.com