LA doctors complete surgery on conjoined twins - Doctor
says "separation appeared to be successful"
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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.