New Delhi: Indian doctors for the first time attempted to separate twins joined at the head on Monday. The surgery, which started around 9am, was still on at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
“We are hoping to save both but even if one of the twins survives, it will be a historic achievement,” a doctor said.
Twins joined at the head are very rare, occurring once in 25 million live births, which is roughly the total number of births in India each year. Approximately four in 10 such twins are dead at birth and an additional three die within 24 hours.
Since 1952, only about 50 attempts have been made to separate such twins across the world, with the success rate below 25%.
In the case of Jaga and Baliya, who are two years and three months old, the operation is more complicated because they share veins that return blood to the heart from the brain.
Surgeons plan to create an alternative venous channel, expand the skin and then separate the brain in the first stage of the surgery, which will be followed by complete separation and skin closure. The children are otherwise healthy and playful, said a doctor.
“This attempt to separate them, if successful, will provide hope and test the frontiers of science,” a doctor said. Nearly 20 specialists from paediatric neurosurgery, neuro-anaesthesia, plastic surgery and cardiovascular sciences are involved in the operation, besides a Japanese expert flown in to assist in the procedure.
The twins, born to Bhuiyan and Pushpa, farmers from Odisha’s Kandhamal district, were referred to AIIMS last month.
Even the AIIMS neurosurgeons were initially doubtful about separating the twins. “Multiple MRIs and angiograms were done to examine the brain structure of the twins over the last one month. We went through literature on such surgeries conducted worldwide and even contacted some of the surgeons who did them. Finally, it was decided to take up the case for surgery with the hope of saving at least one of the twins,” said a surgeon.
Sisters Saba and Farah from Patna are 20 years old. They were not operated upon because of the risks involved.
However, in a recent case of successful surgical separation, surgeons at Montefiore hospital in New York separated 13-month-old twins joined at the head.
Inputs: Timesofindia.indiatimes.com
