“I am delighted that the surgery has gone well and the girls, their family and the local team have had a good outcome,” Dr. Noor ul Owase Jeelani, a pediatric neurosurgeon from London, said in a statement.
The founder of Gemini Untwined, a charity that has separated five twins, Dr. Jeelani said he hoped teamwork and the sharing of knowledge globally could “improve the outcome for all children and families that find themselves in this difficult position.”
The twins were born conjoined at the back of their heads at the hospital last August, and their cardio and respiratory functions, and development, were monitored for several months. To plan the procedure, 3-D and virtual reality models were used to precisely simulate the best way to separate bones, blood vessels and meninges, or the membranes covering the brain. They were also given skin and tissue expanders months before the surgery so doctors could close their scalps after surgery.
“They will see and eat; hands, feet, everything is fine,” the father of the twins, who has not been identified, said to Channel 12, adding that he had been afraid the surgery wouldn’t help the babies. “I was moved — this is the first time I lifted each one alone.”
Twins joined at the head — known medically as craniopagus twins — are extremely rare. About 50 such twins are estimated to be born around the world every year, and only 15 survive beyond the first 30 days of life, according to Gemini Untwined, though many of these cases could be candidates for surgical separation.