Baby Born With 2nd Head to Get Surgery

ap ^ | 2/4/04 | Peter Prengaman

[knak]

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - A Dominican infant born with a second head will undergo a risky operation Friday to remove the appendage, which has a partially formed brain, ears, eyes and lips.

The surgery is complicated because the two heads share arteries.

Led by a Los Angles-based neurosurgeon who successfully separated Guatemalan twins, the medical team will spend about 13 hours removing Rebeca Martinez's second head.

The 18 surgeons, nurses and doctors will cut off the undeveloped tissue, clip the veins and arteries and close the skull of the 7-week-old baby using a bone graft from another part of her body.

"We know this is a delicate operation," Rebeca's father, Franklyn Martinez, 28, told The Associated Press. "But we have a positive attitude."

CURE International, a Lemoyne, Pa.-based charity that gives medical care to disabled children in developing countries, is paying for the surgery and follow-up care.

Dr. Jorge Lazareff, director of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of California at Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital, will lead the operation along with Dr. Benjamin Rivera, a neurosurgeon at the Medical Center of Santo Domingo. Lazareff led a team that successfully separated Guatemalan twin girls in 2002.

Doctors say if the surgery goes well Rebeca won't need physical therapy and will develop as a normal child.

Rebeca was born on Dec. 17 with the undeveloped head of her twin, a condition known as craniopagus parasiticus.

Twins born conjoined at the head are extremely rare, accounting for one of every 2.5 million births. Parasitic twins like Rebeca are even rarer.

Rebeca is the eighth documented case in the world of craniopagus parasiticus, said Dr. Santiago Hazim, medical director at CURE International's Center for Orthopedic Specialties in Santo Domingo, where the surgery will be performed.

All the other documented infants died before birth, making it the first known surgery of its kind, Lazareff and Hazim said.

Hazim said the surgery must be done now so the pressure of Rebeca's other brain doesn't prevent her from developing.

Rebeca shares blood vessels and arteries with her second head. Although only partially developed, the mouth on her second head moves when Rebeca is being breast-fed. Tests indicate some activity in her second brain.

Martinez and his 26-year-old wife, Maria Gisela Hiciano, say doctors told them before Rebeca was born that she would have a tumor on her head, but none of the prenatal tests showed a second head developing.

Martinez works at a tailor's shop. Hiciano is a supermarket cashier. Together they make about $200 a month. They have two other children, ages 4 and 1.

Lazareff says Rebeca's chances of survival are good. Still, he refuses to make a prognosis.

"We'll do everything we can to make this successful," he said.

[ladtx]

I guess this disproves the old saying that 2 heads are better than 1.

[Blood of Tyrants]

close the skull of the 7-week-old baby using a bone graft from another part of her body

Uh, what about using the bones of the ah, er, appendage?

Sometimes, two heads are not better than one.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Better pic

[NautiNurse]

Another photo

Prayers that the surgery is successful. She is a beautiful girl.

[sonserae]

ew...faces only a mother could love...sorry...It's very sad.

[Ragirl]

Good gosh! I hope the mother had a c-section! Seriously, prayers for that baby....poor dear.

[Blood of Tyrants]

The face of the baby is beautiful. It is the appendage that is hideous.

[janetgreen]

This story makes me even more thankful that my kids were born with no abnormalities. I can only imagine how scared the parents must be.

[ambrose]

I've heard of people being called "two faced", but this is ridiculous.

[Theo]

My wife and I are having our first baby in May, and this photo is just heart-breaking. Poor, poor child, and poor, poor parents.

The Lord, through all this pain, remains kind and gracious.

[Prime Choice]

Prayers for the little one and her family.

[CrazyIvan]

How lucky we are to live in modern times. Not that long ago this child, if she lived, would have a dismal future in some sideshow. Before that both she and the mother might have been killed as some work of the devil. With a little luck, someday a happy, normal girl will only know about this part of her past from pictures.

[Dad2Angels]

There are times in life when jokes are of the utmost bad taste and this is one of them. This poor child may very well have a lifetime of suffering in front of her. If she survives.

All you people that think your being funny should be ashamed of yourselves.

[knak]

I totally agree. This child needs lots of prayers said for her.

[FourtySeven]

All prayers and support to the family......God bless and keep them during this difficult time.

that said I find this to be absolutely FASCINATING, from so many viewpoints. Ultimate question raised of course: Does this show the "soul" of a person comes not from the brain?

Whew, the mind boggles.......

[Blood of Tyrants]

Whatever you do, don't let your wife see these pics. No need to give her something else to fret about.

[OldFriend]

Too bad there are some freepers who are unable to remain kind but mock the Lord who created this child.

[Sabertooth]

I cold love both faces, both that of the beautiful baby, and that of her tragically deformed, conjoined twin.

This is a heartbreaking story, and you might want to rethink your post here, and have it deleted.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Does this show the "soul" of a person comes not from the brain?

Ooooo, a good one. Is this two people (one badly deformed and relying on the other for nourishment) or only one? But that thing about the appendage mouth moving when the baby is suckling is freaky.