Twins who were born fused together from the lower chest to the pelvis are recovering well in hospital after American doctors successfully separated them in a day-long operation.
Ten month-old Regina and Renata Salinas Fierros were transferred this morning to side-by-side beds in an intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and are said to be “doing great” by doctors.
They were fused together in several places, including the liver and genitals, and they shared a large intestine. Regina was born with one kidney.
“Everything has been going impeccably, as one could possibly imagine,” surgical director Dr. Henri Ford said several hours into the surgery.
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A team of 80 doctors were part of the complex 12-hour operation. An incision was made at the breastbone and then surgeons divided the internal organs. Plastic surgeons then performed reconstruction work to rebuild the babies’ bodies.
Doctors said the surgery was complex because it involved a number of organs and the way they were fused made them a rare type of conjoined twins.
Conjoined twins occur when a single fertilised egg fails to divide completely. It is estimated that a few hundred pairs of conjoined twins are born globally each year.
The twins were born in Los Angeles on August 2, 2005, to Mexican parents visiting relatives in the United States.
The mother, Sonia Salinas Fierros, 23, said that she did not realise her twins were conjoined until she was hospitalised with an infection. The couple extended their tourist visa so that the twins could receive medical care.
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The girls were transferred to Childrens Hospital a day after their birth where they underwent tests in preparation for the separation surgery. Doctors implanted inflatable balloons under their skin so that it could expand to cover the surgical wounds after the operation.
Childrens Hospital has previously performed five conjoined twin operations since 1966 including three cases in which both twins survived.