|
Separation surgery is performed about five times a year in the
United States, with doctors successfully handling one last month in
Memphis, Tennessee, on twin sisters born in Nigeria.
The operation on Erika and Eva Sandoval, who faced each other, was
done at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, part of the Stanford
University health system in Palo Alto, California.
The surgery was challenging because they shared much of their lower
body and had one liver, one bladder and three legs, hospital
officials said in a statement.
In video provided by the hospital, the surgical team was shown
gathered around the twins, forming a circle with their arms around
each other before beginning the procedure.
The team, in the surgery started on Tuesday completed early on
Wednesday, divided the bladder into two separate organs. It also
split the liver to give half to each child, the statement said.
The girls each have one leg, with doctors using the third leg for
reconstruction, taking its skin and muscle to close one child's
abdominal wall, officials said.
The girls are expected to remain in the intensive care unit at the
hospital for two weeks. They are sharing a hospital room in separate
beds.
[to top of second column] |
"Seeing them now in the ICU, you look at them and think 'You're
missing your other half' but we know that this is the right path for
them: to be independent, have the chance to succeed and explore on
their own everything the world has to offer," the twins' mother,
Aida Sandoval, said in a statement.
Most conjoined twins die in the womb, and about half who are born
alive do not make it past a day.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Dan Grebler)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
