LONDON – Surgeons at a British hospital have successfully separated conjoined twin baby girls in a complex and extremely rare operation, the charity that funded the surgery said yesterday.
Sudan-born Rital and Ritag Gaboura are craniopagus twins, meaning they were born joined at the head.
Conjoined twins are very rare and only around 5 per cent of them are craniopagus. Experts say around 40 per cent of those are stillborn or die during labour, and another third die within 24 hours.
Rital and Ritag, who will celebrate their first birthday next week, were so-called Total Type III Craniopagus twins, meaning that significant blood flowed between their brains – presenting surgeons with a particularly difficult challenge.
“The incidences of surviving twins with this condition are extremely rare,” said surgeon David Dunaway. – (Reuters)