Posted on 08/06/2002 4:49:36 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
LA doctors complete surgery on conjoined twins
Dallas surgeons for Egyptian boys follow case closely
08/06/2002
LOS ANGELES - Surgeons separated 1-year-old Guatemalan twins joined at the head, a risky procedure that took about 20 hours to complete, a doctor told NBC's Today show Tuesday.
Dr. Houman Hemmati, who assisted in the surgery, said the separation appeared to be successful.
"Everyone had goosebumps at the end of the procedure," Hemmati told the program. "People were cheering, people were clapping, people were crying."
AP About 8 a.m. Monday, surgeons began operating on conjoined twins Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez (background) and Maria Teresa Quiej-Alvarez. |
"It was more than optimistic, it was overjoyed and we can't wait until we see these kids playing, laughing, crying like normal baby children," he said.
Hospital officials said doctors were still in surgery but Hemet said the separation was complete.
"There was absolutely no major trouble that was unforeseen in this procedure," he said.
He said one of the girls was losing a lot of blood but she was given transfusions and "everything looks great."
The surgery on Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez began Monday afternoon, about six hours after they were wheeled into the operating room at Mattel Children's Hospital at the University of California at Los Angeles.
The girls, born in rural Guatemala, were attached at the top of the skull and face opposite directions. Cases like theirs occur in fewer than one in 1 million live births.
"Our goal is to get two twins walking out of here maybe not walking, but crawling," Dr. Henry Kawamoto Jr., a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at UCLA, said earlier.
The riskiest part of the surgery was expected to be separating the veins that connect the girl's heads.
"Once those areas are exposed, there has to be a disconnection of these two systems. The major issue is how are these two brains going to tolerate that," UCLA neurosurgeon Dr. Itzhak Fried said.
If doctors cannot reroute the flow of blood to the brain of each twin, either could be at risk of stroke, Fried added. While the two share bone and blood vessels, their brains are not meshed.
Physicians have performed cranial separations only five times in the past decade. Not all twins have survived.
Healing the Children, a nonprofit group, arranged to bring the sisters from Guatemala to Los Angeles for the $1.5 million operation.
The girls' parents, Wenceslao Quiej Lopez and Alba Leticia Alvarez, gave them kisses before the operation began, said UCLA spokeswoman Roxanne Moster.
"The girls were smiling a lot and were very playful," she said.
In Dallas, doctors hoping to separate 1-year-old Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim were following the surgery closely after swapping information and advice with the Los Angeles team.
The Egyptian twins, attached at the top of the head, share some brain tissue and are connected extensively through blood vessels.
"I'm sure the families are going to be incredibly anxious until this is over. ... It's a very difficult and very mentally taxing procedure," said Dr. David Genecov, chief of pediatric surgery at Medical City Dallas Hospital and one of the craniofacial surgeons evaluating the Egyptian twins, who arrived in Dallas on June 22.
"Ours is a little bit more complicated in that the anatomy of the their brains are formed together and the blood drainage is more complicated. One is not easier than the other," Dr. Genecov said.
Unable to walk or even see their siblings, such conjoined twins need surgery to achieve a normal life. But the surgery is incredibly risky; only 10 to 12 percent survive as "normal, intact kids," Dr. Genecov said. The rest either die or end up with severe neurological impairments.
"The odds aren't good," he said, adding, "Prayer works. That's important."
Staff writer Todd J. Gillman in Dallas contributed to this report.
sw
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| Mon Aug 5, 4:12 PM ET |
|
Eleven month old conjoined twins from Guatemala are shown in this recent photograph. Surgeons at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles began operating on August 5, 2002 to separate the girls joined at the top of the head. The rare and sometimes risky surgery on Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez started about 8 a.m. and was expected to last more than 10 hours, a UCLA spokeswoman said. (UCLA Childrens' Hospital/Reuters) |
"The odds aren't good," he said, adding, "Prayer works. That's important."
Excerpt:
LOS ANGELES - Surgeons separated 1-year-old Guatemalan twins joined at the head, a risky procedure that took about 20 hours to complete, a doctor told NBC's Today show Tuesday.
Dr. Houman Hemmati, who assisted in the surgery, said the separation appeared to be successful.
"Everyone had goosebumps at the end of the procedure," Hemmati told the program. "People were cheering, people were clapping, people were crying."
AP About 8 a.m. Monday, surgeons began operating on conjoined twins Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez (background) and Maria Teresa Quiej-Alvarez. |
"It was more than optimistic, it was overjoyed and we can't wait until we see these kids playing, laughing, crying like normal baby children," he said.
Hospital officials said doctors were still in surgery but Hemet said the separation was complete.
"There was absolutely no major trouble that was unforeseen in this procedure," he said.
He said one of the girls was losing a lot of blood but she was given transfusions and "everything looks great."
The surgery on Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez began Monday afternoon, about six hours after they were wheeled into the operating room at Mattel Children's Hospital at the University of California at Los Angeles.
The girls, born in rural Guatemala, were attached at the top of the skull and face opposite directions. Cases like theirs occur in fewer than one in 1 million live births. 
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.
Don't take this as me trivializing what's happening with these girls, but...
When did this condition become "conjoined twins" instead of "Siamese twins"??
It just seems like a liberal feel-good euphemism to me.
I mean, the country of Siam no longer exists under that name, so it's not as if the 'Siamese' were offended.
</ rant off>
Wishing the girls the best,
CD
Leni
The term "conjoined" is a medical term that is much a more accurate description of the condition. This was changed years before the PC crowd took over. I am NOT a PC advocate, but I do prefer this term over "Siamese".
I never really heard it mentioned until a few years ago.
It's a legitimate question, I think... thanks for not flaming me.
No problem, it is a very legitimate question. Thank you as well for the nice reply. Besides we can all learn from on another at this site and, with a lot of the political posts, we often times have a good laugh too!
I've never seen a more well-informed bunch than Freepers!
WE *do* have a good laugh from time to time.
I think it serves to keep us all from having liberal-induced heart attacks.
Check your FRmail, please.
\\O// Praise the Lord!
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