Doctors declared Wednesday that a pair of formerly conjoined twins were
healthy and happy after they were successfully separated in a marathon
"nerve-wracking" operation in India by a team of 40 specialists.
The
one-year-old girls from Nigeria, sporting matching bright pink dresses,
sat patiently on their parents' laps as doctors explained the
separation last month during an 18-hour operation at a New Delhi
hospital.
"They were fused at their back when they came to us which is very rare," paediatric surgeon Prashant Jain told AFP.
"Usually the twins are joined in the head or the upper body. It posed a huge challenge to our team of doctors," Jain said.
Doctors
held the media conference as the twins, Hussaina and Hassana, sat
happily, grabbing at a mobile phone, clutching a rattle and trying to
pull off their mother's earrings.
Malama Badariyya Badaru, the
mother of the twins, said she was overjoyed at finally being able to
hold the girls in her arms "individually".
The girls, sporting
hair bands of different colours to make recognition easier, looked
curiously at the cameras during the conference at the BLK Super
Speciality hospital.
"It was all nerve-wracking work. But it feels great to see them happy, healthy and independent," Jain said.
The
single surgery was carried out in three stages, preparation, separation
and then reconstruction of their shared organs which include the lower
spine, lower intestinal and urinary tracts as well as Cores.
"We
carried out rehearsals using dummies. All tubes, wires, injections and
drugs were colour-coded in pink or blue (for each girl) to avoid any
mistake," he said.
Jain said only 15 percent of all conjoined
twins are born with this type of condition, known medically as
pygopagus. Medical literature lists just 32 such cases, he said.
The
family, from Kano state in northwestern Nigeria, were told by doctors
in their country that one of the girls may not survive if they went
ahead with the surgery there.
An unnamed philanthropist then
stepped in to help, and suggested they travel to India which offered
good facilities at relatively low medical costs, Jain said.
The family can head home to Nigeria after a series of month-long check ups, he said.
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NIGERIAN COJOINED TWINS SEPERATED BY INDIAN DOCTORS
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