Home » World » Texas doctors separate conjoined twins after 11 hours of ‘landmark surgery’

Texas doctors separate conjoined twins after 11 hours of ‘landmark surgery’

The twins were conjoined along their abdomens.

Foto:
Go Nakamura / Getty Images

Conjoined twins were successfully separated during a complex procedure that marked a first surgery for Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas.

The babies, AmieLynn Rose y JamieLynn Rae Finley, “They are making a good recovery,” Cook Children’s Medical Center hospital officials wrote in a statement. Press releasedescribing what they called a “historical surgery.”

AmieLynn and JamieLynn were born prematurely to parents and Fort Worth residents Amanda Arciniega and James Finley at nearby Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital on October 3, 2022.

At the time of his birth, the twins were conjoined along their abdomens and they shared skin, muscles and intra-abdominal organs, including a liver, according to Cook Children’s Medical Center.

A 2016 report published by the National Institutes of Health suggests that omphalopagus twins (the technical term means that part of the gastrointestinal system and abdominal wall are shared) have the best chance of survival after successful separation.

About 10% of babies born conjoined are omphalopagus twins.according to the agency.

AmieLynn and JamieLynn’s separation surgery involved a team of 25 medical professionalsincluding six surgeons, themselves who performed the delicate operation over the course of 11 hours.

The team was split up and assigned to focus on AmieLynn’s or JamieLynn’s individual surgeries once the separation procedure was complete, the hospital said.

“This is an incredible and historic day,” said Wini King, senior vice president and chief of communications, diversity, equity and inclusion for Cook Children’s Healthcare System, at a Press conference held this Wednesday.

“This is a magical time for Cook Children’s,” repeated Rick Merrill, the hospital’s president and CEO, in his own remarks at the conference.

Before undergoing surgery this week, AmieLynn and JamieLynn had already defied a number of odds. Their condition at birth is rare, and although health officials believe the incidence of conjoined twins is underreported globally, current statistics indicate that this occurs in approximately one in 50,000 to 200,000 births.

Of conjoined twins who survive birth, about 25% live long enough to be eligible for separation surgery.


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