Discordant clinical outcomes of congenital Zika virus infection in twin pregnancies

• Main Authors: Vanessa van der Linden, Hélio van der Linden Junior, Mariana de Carvalho Leal, Epitacio Leite Rolim Filho, Ana van der Linden, Maria de Fátima Viana Vasco Aragão, Alessandra Mertens Brainer-Lima, Danielle Di Cavalcanti Sousa Cruz, Liana O. Ventura, Telma Lúcia Tabosa Florêncio, Marli Tenório Cordeiro, Silvio da Silva Caudas Neto, Regina Coeli Ramos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academia Brasileira de Neurologia (ABNEURO)
• Series: Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
• Subjects: Zika virus; infecção pelo Zika virus; gêmeos dizigóticos
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2017000600381&lng=en&tlng=en

ABSTRACT Congenital Zika syndrome is an emergent cause of a congenital infectious disorder, resulting in severe damage to the central nervous system and microcephaly. Despite advances in understanding the pathophysiology of the disease, we still do not know all the mechanisms enrolled in the vertical transmission of the virus. As has already been reported in other types of congenital infectious disorders in dizygotic twin pregnancies, it is possible that the virus affects only one of the fetuses. In this article, we report on two cases of twin pregnancies exposed to the Zika virus, but with only one of the fetuses affected with microcephaly and brain damage. This indicates the urgent need for more studies regarding the pathophysiology of viral infection and the mechanisms involved in the natural protection against the virus.