By Rachel Elbaum and Paul Goldman - NBC News
Twin sisters who were born joined at the back of the head were seen face to face for the first time after a successful surgical operation to separate them in Israel.
The one-year-old girls were separated
from a 12-hour operation
Thursday
at Soroka Medical Center
in Beer Sheva, the hospital reported Sunday.
It was the first time that a procedure to separate Siamese twins had been performed in Israel.
"For us neurosurgeons,
whenever we have two babies linked by their brains and the vessels that supply the brains, it is a very complex procedure
and it is difficult to know what to expect and how to handle it," said Mickey Gideon, director of pediatric neurosurgery. from the hospital, who was the specialist who directed the surgery.
Gideon believes that only 20 such surgeries have been performed worldwide.
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The girls, whose names have not been released,
are the youngest twins to have undergone a surgical separation process.
Gideon had wanted to perform the surgery before the age of one, which is an important developmental time for children, he said.
"They are recovering and are neurologically well," he
said in a telephone interview, "we still cannot estimate their cognitive status, we have to wait to examine them and see how they are."
The girls have bandaged heads but are alert, conscious and cry.
In the days after the surgery they were separated to receive their treatments and on Sunday they were put in the same crib for the first time.
“The first two days after the operation we saw that they were a bit shaken, but it
was a wonderful moment to see how they calmed down and became quiet when we brought them together
.
They were looking at each other for the first time, after being glued to the back of the head, ”Gideon said.
The 12-month-old girls were separated on Thursday after a 12-hour operation at Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva. Reuters
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Gideon and his team began planning the separation surgery while the twins were still in the womb.
Then, after their birth at 34 weeks last August, doctors repeatedly examined them for
a more detailed and accurate understanding of their brains and bodies.
They also worked closely with several high-tech companies who developed 3D models and were able to use virtual reality simulations in order to prepare for surgery, so everyone involved knew exactly what to do during each moment of the operation.
In order to close the girls' scalps after separation,
skin and tissue expanders were inserted into their heads several months ago.
During the operation, after the doctors separated their blood vessels and bones, they divided into two teams in two separate operating rooms so that they could reconstruct the skulls and scalp of each baby.
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A team of 50 people participated in the planning of the procedure and the surgery.
The local medical team worked closely with Gemini Untwined, a charity that has expertise in separating twins joined at the head, and with doctors Noor ul Owase Jeelani, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, and David Staffenberg. , a specialist in plastic surgery from NYU Langone in the United States, who have performed similar operations.
Specialists in anesthesia, pediatric intensive care and brain imaging also participated in the complex surgery, along with teams of nurses, pharmacists, laboratory personnel and social workers.
