Correspondence
Mohamed K. Derbala
Email:
mohamed_equine@yahoo.com
Summary
Twin pregnancies in Arabian horses is a major cause of abortion. In all
cases when the abortion occurs, it occurs for both fetuses. Unusually in
the case described here, which we believe has not previously been
documented in Arabian horses, one fetus aborted in undersized and
representing an age of 4 months. The other fetus completed the gestation
and reached full term followed by birth. The authors postulated that one
fetus underwent a stage of diapause like marsupials in a blastocyst
stage then re-grew again, followed by abortion. The parentage analysis
confirmed that both feti are derived from the same dam and sire
stallion.