ISLAMABAD, Dec 11: Doctors at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) succeeded in separating six-month-old conjoined twins, baby girls, after eight-hour-long operation at the Children Hospital here on Tuesday.

This kind of surgery is believed to have been undertaken for the first time in the country as the twins shared a number of organs which were successfully separated.

“Such sort of surgery is rare even in best hospitals in the world and the number of successful operations in these cases can be counted on finger tips,” Prof Zaheer Abbasi, head of the department of paediatric surgery, told Dawn.

The twins - Fatima and Maryam - had a very complicated fusion of organs and they were united at thorax and abdomen and also shared the covering membrane of heart called the pericardium, he added. They also shared the liver, gallbladder and small intestine, Dr Abbasi said, adding that through operation these organs were divided equally between the two babies.

He said on completion of the surgery the two babies were shifted to the ICU, adding that the first few days might be crucial because of the nature of the abnormality. However, the condition of the twins is so far stable.

They will be kept under observation at the ICU for a week and hopefully shifted to the ward afterwards, he added.

Usually this type of operation is conducted after the age of six months because if the surgery is carried out within six months, the chances of survival are meagre, the surgeon said.

Doctors had to take the operation in the early stages because one of the babies, Maryam, had associated congenital cardiac pathology and was much weaker than Fatima, he said.

Maryam had a hole in her heart and her health started deteriorating, Prof Abbasi said, adding that in such cases if one of conjoined babies died then the other one could not live for more than two or three hours.

He said that the hole in the heart would naturally be filled in three to four years. Another operation will be conducted if needed, Prof Abbasi added.

The conjoined twins were born in a hospital in Bannu after an operation on May 27.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.