Surgeons in Memphis, Tennessee separated successfully baby twins who were born joined back to back at the pelvis and lower spine, each with separate hearts, heads and limbs.
Surgeons in Memphis, Tennessee separated successfully baby twins who were born joined back to back at the pelvis and lower spine, each with separate hearts, heads and limbs.
Surgeons at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, separated the spinal column, spinal cord and muscles and completed gastrointestinal repairs during a 13-hour procedure which they discussed Wednesday. The twins surgical team included 34 physicians, nurses and technicians.
"For our team to have successfully separated a case of this complexity and do it flawlessly is a major milestone in health care for the city of Memphis and the region," said Meri Armour, Le Bonheur president and CEO on the hospital's website.
The twins Joshua and Jacob Spates remain in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Le Bonheur where they will continue to receive critical care and rehabilitation therapy.
The procedure which was performed on August 29, was considered the most complex in the hospital's 59-year history.
Conjoined twins occur once every 200,000 live births and only between 5 percent and 25 percent survive, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Approximately 70 percent of all conjoined twins are girls, the University informs.
Joshua and Jacob are pygopagus twins a type that represents only 15 percent of conjoined twins.
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