Moderm surgery gives normal life to Siamese twins
Separation of craniopagus twins – people fused at the head – still poses the highest difficulty for surgeons worldwide
The whole world was watching the unique surgery to separate adult Iranian craniopagus twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani fused at the brain. The operation was performed for the first time in history in 2003. Thousands of people were praying for salvation of the sisters and for granting an independent life to each of the two girls. Experts said there were just few chances that the surgery would be a success. Still the girls wanted to be separated whatever the risk to live a normal life could be. Unfortunately, the surgery turned out to be fatal for them. But the dream of Ladan and Laleh to live separately from each other came true: doctors separated the twins when they were alive. Doctors succeeded with separation of both brains and maintained separate blood supply of them. The operation lasted longer than expected: it turned out that the brains of the 29-year-old twins were fused deeper than doctors originally thought. The two girls died as a result of heavy blood loss.
Separation of craniopagus twins – people fused at the head – still poses the highest difficulty for surgeons worldwide. Fourteen years ago, Director of Moscow's Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute Academician Alexander Konovalov performed the first surgery on craniopagus twins. Sisters Vilia and Vitalia Tamulyavichus from Lithuania were born with their fontanels fused. At that, their faces were lying in different planes: when one girl was lying with her stomach down, the other was lying on her side. Doctors with Alexander Konovalov at head successfully separated the twins when they were 11 months old. Today, the girls are 15; they are happy and sociable teenagers making good progress at school. The girls already have dates with boys. And only slightly deformed skulls of both girls may reveal they were born as craniopagus twins.
In 2002, doctors of the clinic at the University of California in Los Angeles performed an operation to separate one-year-old Siamese twins from Guatemala, Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Alvarez. The girls were fused at the back of both heads, a really rare case. The operation lasted for over 20 hours and was a success.
In April 2001, Singapore doctors with Dr. Keith Goh at head (the surgeon performed the separation of Ladan and Laleh Bijani) successfully performed separation of craniopagus twins Ganga and Jamuna Shrestha from Nepal. The girls' brains were partially conjoint. It was particularly important for doctors to determine to which of the girls this or that part of the brain belongs. As a result of the surgery both girls must retain essential brain parts controlling logic and speech. The separation lasted for 88 hours and became a really worldwide sensation. Thanks to the surgery the girls began independent active lives.
Experts name several reasons why Siamese twins come to the world at all. In the old times it was believed that birth of such children meant the soon end of the world. These children were as a rule destroyed and sometimes even together with their parents. But often enterprising people employed Siamese twins to make money.
In 1811, twins conjoint with a strip of skin on the level of their breasts were born in the province of Siam of Melange, now Thailand. And by the name of the province conjoint twins are since that time called “Siamese twins.” The Siam King ordered to kill brothers Eng and Chang as the boys were believed to be an evil sign, a warning of a disaster. But mother of the boys did not allow to kill her sons. She regularly rubbed the skin between the boys to make it especially elastic and allow them face each other and move freely than before. Later, the king showed much mercy towards the brothers. He let a Scottish merchant take them to North America where the unique brothers performed in the circus.
In 1929, the twins acquired the name of Bunker, bought a farm in North Caroline and started farming. At the age of 44 they married English sisters. One brother was the father of ten children and the other gave birth to nine children, all of them were absolutely healthy. Eng and Chang died at the age of 63.
Siamese sisters Rose and Josepha Blazek fused at their buttocks were born in 1878. The girls had two hearts, two sets of lungs but one stomach and one set of genital for both. Parents were shocked to see their unusual daughters and decided to starve them for several days. But the girls survived. In 1892 the sisters opened an attraction known on both sides of the Atlantic: they played the violin and the harp. At the age of 28, Rose fell in love with a German officer. The sisters quarreled with each other as they had common genitals. Later, Rose got pregnant and gave birth to a healthy boy. The sisters brought up the son together in harmony.
Sisters Daisy and Violet Hilton fused at hips were the most famous Siamese twins of the past century. The talented girls performed one of the leading roles in Tod Browning's Freaks and became incredibly popular. They had many sex partners and openly told journalists about their private life. The sisters died of flu in January 1969.
The life of Russian Siamese sisters Dasha and Masha Krivoshlyapova
