Chennai hospital to attempt surgical separation of Pygopagus twin boys

The surgical separation of a pair of Pygopagus twin boys at the Apollo Specialty Hospital in Vanagaram will be the first-ever attempted in India.

Prayers are indeed necessary for the survival and speedy recovery of nine-month-old Ericana and Eluidi, hailing from Kasumulu village in Tanzania, who are joined at the tail-end of their spines and share a single anus and rectum, for they will be undergoing an 18-hour-long ordeal at the operating table.

According to Dr Venkat Sripathi, Senior Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, conjoined twins are seen in one in 200,000 deliveries, with 60 per cent of them being stillborn and 35 per cent of the remaining dying within a few days or months of birth. “However, fusion at the buttocks (Pygopagus) is very rare and account for less than 17 per cent of all conjoined twins,” he said at a media briefing here on Friday.

“Till now in medical literature, only 30 sets of Pygopagus twins have been reported, out of which 26 are female and only four are male,” he pointed out.

The male twins arrived at the Apollo Hospitals for surgical separation under a joint project ‘Save a child’s heart initiative’ with the Tanzanian government. The cost of the surgery, estimated to be around `30-40 lakh, will be met by the Tanzanian government.

Dr Sripathi said the unique and challenging aspect of the separation was the fused phallus, which had to be delicately separated to give each baby a functional penis. A team of 20 doctors from the specialties of neurosurgery, plastic surgery, paediatric surgery and paediatric urology would attempt the separation. “The twins have a 75 per cent chance of survival,” he said to a query.

Awaiting their most transforming moments in their life, the bubbly boys have learnt to speak Tamil from the nurses and lisp words such as athai and thatha.

Source; New Indian Express


Conjoined twins Saba, Farah in critical condition in Bihar

The conjoined twins, Saba and Farah in Bihar are said to be in critical condition and have been admitted to a leading hospital in Patna.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had ordered the Bihar government to look after their medical expenses and provide all kinds of financial help to the family. The twins share a vital blood vessel in the brain. While Farah has two kidneys, Saba has none.

The family of Saba and Farah were provided financial aid after they had rejected surgery to separate the two of them in the absence of funds.

Dr Shyam Sundar, who has been treating the twins said that the twins have been facing complications from the past few days. “Farah has been bleeding from the nose from the past five days with some respiratory tract infection and the blood pressure of both the twins is low. We are still evaluating the cause of the bleeding and a multi speciality team is having a look”, he said.

In case, an operation is being carried out to separate the head, it would prove to be a real medical challenge ,according to Doctor Sundar.

Source: Zee news