RIYADH: Medical teams of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program on Thursday successfully separated 18-month-old Tanzanian twin girls Nancy and Nice, according to Al Ekhbariya.
The surgery took place at King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital in Riyadh.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, advisor to the royal court, supervisor-general of the aid body KSrelief and head of the SCTP team, said a detailed examination had been undertaken of the girls, who are conjoined at the lower chest, abdominal and pelvic areas, after they arrived in late January.
Each girl has one leg, and share a third, deformed lower limb. They also share one liver, large intestine, anus, urinary and reproductive systems, and external genitalia malformation.
The separation by a team of 35 consultants, specialists and support staff will be performed in 10 stages and take approximately 16 hours.
Al-Rabeeah said the procedure is delicate but has a 60 percent success rate. Nancy and Nice are the third pair of conjoined twins from Tanzania to be separated by the SCTP since the program began in 1990, and the 71st in total.
A total of 157 cases from 28 countries across five continents have been reviewed by the team thus far.
Filipino conjoined twins Klea and Maurice Ann were successfully separated last month after surgery of over 18 hours.
