SURGEONS at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) have successfully separated conjoined twins.
Dr. Auwal Abubakar, a paediatric surgeon, who led the team of experts on a 15-hour operation, told journalists yesterday in Maiduguri that the twins were joined at the pelvis.
Abubakar said the operation was conducted on Monday at the main theatre of the hospital.
His words: "I am happy to announce that we have successfully separated co-joined twins joined at the pelvis.
photo is strictly for illustration and not related to this story
"The separation of this kind of co-joined twins is one of the most difficult operations. In fact, this is the third to be carried out in Nigeria".
Abubakar explained that most surgical operations on co-joined
twins were carried out the world over on those joined at the chest because they were easier to separate...
"This type of co-joined twins is more difficult to separate but their chances of survival after the operation are higher than those who share a common heart or other vital organs", the surgeon said.
He disclosed that 20 medical experts, comprising paediatrics, orthopaedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, technicians and other specialists conducted the operation.
Abubakar, however, said that each of the separated babies would have to use a rubber limb to walk, as they grow older.
"The co-joined twins had only three legs before the operation, we left each of them with one leg after the operation because the third leg does not have a bone so it was cut off", he said.
Abubakar added that the reproductive system of one of the separated twins had also been changed to that of a female during the surgery.
He said: "They shared a single male genital before the operation but we realised that it was easier to leave one with the genital and construct a female genital for the other. The female will function normally like other persons but will not be able to bear children because she does not have a fallopian tube".
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that on August 30, 2010, surgeons at the hospital had a successful kidney transplant on 31-year-old Usman Suleiman.
Conjoined twins (also known as Siamese twins) are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa.[1] Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of pairs born alive have abnormalities incompatible with life. The overall survival rate for conjoined twins is approximately 25%.[2] The condition is more frequently found among females, with a ratio of 3:1.[1]Two contradicting theories exist to explain the origins of conjoined twins. The older and most generally accepted theory is fission, in which the fertilized egg splits partially. The second theory is fusion, in which a fertilized egg completely separates, but stem cells (which search for similar cells) find like-stem cells on the other twin and fuse the twins together. Conjoined twins share a single common chorion, placenta, and amniotic sac, although these characteristics are not exclusive to conjoined twins as there are some monozygotic but non-conjoined twins that also share these structures in utero.[3]
source wikipedia
