Conjoined twins await surgery | |
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/07/02 11:03 Shanghai Daily | |
A pair of Siamese twin girls connected along their torsos are hospitalized at Shanghai Children's Medical Center waiting for separation surgery, which is expected to take place within two months, doctors said yesterday. The twins from Jiangsu Province arrived at the hospital on June 6, the day they were born. Doctors said they are in stable condition. "It is a rare case among Siamese twins as the connecting part is so large, from under their necks to their navels," said Chen Qimin, deputy director of Shanghais Children's pediatric surgery department. "Their livers, hearts, chest bone and digestive systems are all connected." Doctors say the twins share one liver and one heart-sac, but have two independent hearts. The digestive systems are also related with each other, but doctors are still unsure how and which parts connect. A more thorough exam will be performed when the twins are one month old, doctors said. "They are too young to receive a complicated medical process. We are not in a hurry because we want to keep both of them alive," Chen said. "We will have them grown old and strong enough to undergo the surgery. It may be suitable when they are three months old." The hospital is quite low key on the issue. "The surgery is very risky, since we should slice their chest bone. All medical staff will try their best," said Ji Qingying, a hospital spokeswoman. According to doctors, nearly 45 cases of Siamese twins are reported in the world every year. Only about one-third of the sets of twins are eligible for separation surgery, a risky operation that still kills many patients. Only one set of Siamese twins were born in the city since 1982, according to local medical records.
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