A team of 18 doctors began a complicated separation surgery Saturday in an attempt to give 2-year-old conjoined twins from Egypt a chance at independent lives.
The risks are high: One or both of the boys may die, and even if they survive, some brain damage is possible.
"Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim have begun the first stage of their surgery that will physically separate them and -- we all hope -- will give them the opportunity to grow and develop like other brothers," said Dr. Jim Thomas, chief of critical-care medicine at Children's Medical Center Dallas.
PHOTO: REUTERS
By mid-afternoon, doctors entered a critical stage as neurosurgeons prepared to separate an intricate web of shared blood vessels, Thomas said.
Thomas relayed a message from Dr. Dale Swift, one of five pediatric neurosurgeons: "Everything is going fine. There have been no problems."
Saturday night, the hospital said the twins were in stable condition and the surgery was continuing.
Doctors spent more than a year planning the surgery to separate the boys joined at the crown of the head. The operation was expected to take a team of 50 to 60 medical personnel anywhere from 18 to 90 hours to finish.
Relatives of the boys in the tiny village of el-Homr, near the southern Egyptian city of Qus, prayed for their safe return.
"It is all in God's hands now," an uncle of the twins, Nasser Mohammed Ibrahim, said in a telephone interview. "He is the one who can save their lives."
Thomas said much of Saturday morning was spent positioning the boys in a specially made bed that lets doctors swivel their bodies for easy access to the front and back of their heads.
Craniofacial surgeons planned to open the boys' scalp and remove skin expanders inserted about five months ago. The extra skin and tissue created by the expanders will cover the head wounds.
While each boy has his own brain, they share an extensive attachment of blood vessels.
On the right side of each boy's brain, the blood flows in a normal fashion -- into the brain and back to the boy. On the left side, though, the blood flows from one boy into the other.
"During the operation, the left hemisphere is going to be at risk," Swift said earlier this week.
He said the hope is that the blood will drain into other deep veins. The worst possible situation, Swift said, is that the blood can't get out and the hemisphere becomes swollen and damaged.
"We think the result will be somewhere in the middle," he said.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
RSS