Saudi twins separated in marathon surgery

A marathon 18-hour separation surgery was performed on Saudi Siamese twins Rana and Raneem at the King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh on Sunday.
The surgery was led by consultant neurosurgeon Dr. Ahmed Al-Frayyan.
Rana and Raneem were born in August 2011 via C-section and have been receiving special medical attention since then.
An official from the National Guard Health Affairs told Arab News that the operation began at 7.50 a.m.
The separation surgery was preceded by three surgeries at various phases since the twins’ birth.
The first surgery took place last April, when the veins to the brains were separated, after which a silicon implant had been inserted to separate the brains of the two girls.
Parts of the arteries joining Rana’s and Raneem’s brains were separated a month later.
The remaining arteries and veins shared by the girls were separated during the third phase, which took place in October.
Their brains, veins and arteries were separated by Dr. Al-Ferayan, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Yamany, Dr. Ali bin Salamah and Dr. James T. Goodrich. They were assisted by Dr. Merdas Al-Otaibi and Dr. Moutasem Azzubi.