RIYADH: A team of surgeons at a Riyadh hospital have successfully separated twin girls from Aden, Yemen who were conjoined, Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.
The operation, funded by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, separated Mawaddah and Rahma who were born conjoined at the lower chest and abdomen.
Earlier examinations showed the twin girls shared a liver and intestines and were suspected to be attached by a heart membrane.
The procedure, upon directives from King Salman, was carried out at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh and was expected to take 11 hours. However, it only took five hours.
The team of 28 Saudi doctors, specialists, and nurses performed the delicate surgical procedures in six stages involving the separation of the liver and intestines and organ reconstruction.
KSrelief’s Saudi Conjoined Twins Programme has so far sponsored 52 separation surgeries involving over 124 twins from 23 countries.
