Status: 15.01.2024, 05:04 a.m.
By: Robin Dittrich
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In August 2023, twins were born at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Now they have been successfully separated.
Hamburg – In a four-hour operation, two girls who were joined together on the abdomen were separated from each other at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Seven weeks earlier, they had been born by caesarean section at 33 weeks gestation.
As reported by the UKE in a press release dated January 10, 2024, the parents of the twins learned as early as the tenth week of pregnancy that they were unusually close to each other. A further examination two weeks later then brought confirmation that they are connected. Even before the birth, it was clear to the parents and the medical team that the twins would most likely be separated.
Conjoined twins successfully separated during surgery
The twins, who were joined at birth, were successfully separated from each other at the UKE Hamburg. © University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
"Even before birth, ultrasound and fetal MRI showed that all vital organs were present in both twins and that there was only a fusion of the abdominal wall and the two livers," said Prof. Dr. Reinshagen, director of the clinic.
The separation of the children was carried out by Dr. Reinshagen on the calculated date of birth on October 6, 2023. Subsequently, the two girls continued to be cared for at the UKE and were discharged home at the end of October – both made a full recovery. One woman even became a mother of joined twins at the age of 70.
Even the birth of the joined twins required a variety of planning and a large medical team. "It was a special challenge, because in a normal twin birth, only one child at a time has to pass through the opening of the uterus, as they are born one after the other. In this case, however, there were two children at the same time," the press release reads. However, the entire team had "quickly adapted to the care of the children in a double pack."
Connected children formerly known as "Siamese twins"
In the past, conjoined twins were known as "Siamese twins". The term was first used for the twins Chang and Eng Bunker, who lived between 1811 and 1874 and were connected to each other at the hull. This term is no longer used nowadays – today these are only known as conjoined twins. It is not sufficiently clear how connected twins can arise in the first place.
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Conjoined twins can develop from the division of a fertilized egg. "The earlier this division takes place after fertilization, the more complete it is," writes the UKE. If, on the other hand, the separation takes place only after two weeks, the physical separation is no longer complete – the twins remain connected. According to estimates, these pregnancies occur with a frequency of only 1:50,000 to 1:200,000. Parents often decide to have an abortion because the twins' chances of survival are extremely poor, depending on how they are severed. (rd
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