Nigerian Conjoined Twins Separated By Indian Doctors

Doctors declared Wednesday that a pair of formerly
conjoined twins were healthy and happy after they
were successfully separated in a marathon "nerve-
wracking" operation in India by a team of 40
specialists.
The one-year-old girls from Nigeria, sporting matching
bright pink dresses, sat patiently on their parents' laps
as doctors explained the separation last month during
an 18-hour operation at a New Delhi hospital.
"They were fused at their back when they came to us
which is very rare," paediatric surgeon Prashant Jain
told AFP.
"Usually the twins are joined in the head or the upper
body. It posed a huge challenge to our team of
doctors," Jain said.
Doctors held the media conference as the twins,
Hussaina and Hassana, sat happily, grabbing at a
mobile phone, clutching a rattle and trying to pull off
their mother's earrings.
Malama Badariyya Badaru, the mother of the twins,
said she was overjoyed at finally being able to hold
the girls in her arms "individually".
The girls, sporting hair bands of different colours to
make recognition easier, looked curiously at the
cameras during the conference at the BLK Super
Speciality hospital.
"It was all nerve-wracking work. But it feels great to
see them happy, healthy and independent," Jain said.
The single surgery was carried out in three stages,
preparation, separation and then reconstruction of their
shared organs which include the lower spine, lower
intestinal and urinary tracts as well as Cores.
"We carried out rehearsals using dummies. All tubes,
wires, injections and drugs were colour-coded in pink
or blue (for each girl) to avoid any mistake," he said.
Jain said only 15 percent of all conjoined twins are
born with this type of condition, known medically as
pygopagus. Medical literature lists just 32 such cases,
he said.
The family, from Kano state in northwestern Nigeria,
were told by doctors in their country that one of the
girls may not survive if they went ahead with the
surgery there.
An unnamed philanthropist then stepped in to help,
and suggested they travel to India which offered good
facilities at relatively low medical costs, Jain said.
The family can head home to Nigeria after a series of
month-long check ups, he said.