Eight-and-a-half-month-old identical twin girls
Abriana and Adriana from Tanzania, with conjoined chests and abdomens
until their separation by surgeons at India�s Apollo Hospitals on
November 11, in buoyant mood following the gruelling operation that
lasted 11 hours. They are due back home from India on Friday accompanied
by their parents.
Surgeons of the Apollo Hospitals, headquartered in Chennai, India, performed the operation after meticulous planning among different departments and coordination among 50 staff members.
The siblings, who were conjoined at the chest and abdomen, a condition referred to as Thoraco Omphalopagus, had a single heart cavity and a connected liver.
Adriana and Abriana are the only living pair of Thoraco-omphalopagus conjoined twins with a single heart cavity.
Speaking during a live broadcast conference from India, the doctors said the complex work of figuring out how to separate the twins came to conclusion last month, November 17, 2014.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon Dr KS Sivakumar said the children beat incredible odds to survive the procedures, which included separation of the pericardium (heart lining), diaphragm and detaching the connected liver was fused as one single organ.
"It took seven and a half hours for the surgery and another two and a half hours for closure by plastic experts," he said.
Incidentally, Adriana developed some complications after surgery and another procedure was carried on her, details of which were constantly shared between doctors on the mobile phone messaging platform, 'Whatsapp,'.
"Adriana's heart had to be covered with bovine pericardium and carefully closed with skin and soft tissue," said Dr K S Sivakumar.
The team comprised surgeons, nurses, technical and medical expert, and post-operative care specialists.
The parents, Jimmy Mtemi and Carolyn Zakaria, speaking shortly after the announcement expressed joy and gratitude to see their twins separated.
Thanking the Apollo Hospitals, Jimmy and Carolyn hailed support from the Tanzanian government, saying the successful separation was the result of dedicated support from the government.
Carolyn and her husband, Jimmy, learned the babies were conjoined during a routine ultrasound. They undertook several medical check-ups in Tanzanians hospitals before being referred to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, India early August, this year.
They are all placed to fly back home this Friday and will return to India in three-months for medical check-up.
Chairman and Founder of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd, Dr Prathap C Reddy, lauded the doctors for their feat.
“We’re now ready to give the world good care and make India best care provider in Asia and across the world,” he said.
Since 2007, eight pairs of the conjoined twins with fused livers and intestines have been reported after separation from various parts of India.
Of these cases, Aradhana and Stuthi were the only pair of twins with two hearts in one cavity, a condition similar to Adriana and Abriana.
The twins underwent separation but in that case, unfortunately Aradhana died after three weeks.
Scientists say conjoined twins are the result of one fertilised egg that divides into two fetuses that fail to fully separate fully.
As termed by medical literatures ‘Thoraco Omphalopagus’ twins, are unusual and occur only once in every 100,000 deliveries.
Survival rates of conjoined twins tend to vary depending on where on the body the babies are fused and which vital organs they share.
After being admitted in August this year, Abriana and Adriana underwent the final separation surgery on November 11, 2014.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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