Doctors to test if conjoined twins can be saved

The conjoined twins born to Sion resident Shahin Khan (26) on Wednesday morning are now under the care of paediatric surgeon Dr Paras Kothari, who will further examine whether they can be separated without risking their lives.

“These conjoined twins (Dicephalic Paraphagus) are rare. We are performing a few tests and once the results are positive, we will proceed with the procedures for separation. These conjoined twins are not the usual kind but have a very complex internal architecture. Externally, they have two separate heads and necks, but have a partially common thorax and are completely fused below the umbilical level,” said Dr Kothari. “I have successfully operated on many conjoined twins. A team of specialists and super specialists has been assigned the task of planning the future course of action for these conjoined twins,” he said. The team includes paediatric surgeons, neonatologists, paediatric cardiac surgeons and paediatric anesthetists among others.

Doctors at Sion Hospital said that evaluating the twins’ complex anatomy will require multi-slice CT scans, 3D rotational CT angiography, multi-planar reconstructions, 3 Tesla MRI scanner and other complex CT techniques that will be carried out within the hospital itself. MRI fibre tracto-graphy will be used to establish communication between the brain and other parts of the nervous system, including nerve supply to the limbs. 2D echocardiography will be used to evaluate the single heart. Put simply, the twins will require many more investigations and only after these investigations are completed will the next course of action be decided.

The conjoined twins —who have two fully developed heads joined from above the chest and three arms, including a third arm protruding from the back - were delivered through Caesarian section in Ms Khan’s 37th week of pregnancy by the gynaecology unit’s Dr Y.S. Nandanwar and his team of neonatologists. They weighed 3.67 kg at birth and shared a common heart, urinary bladder, genital and two lower limbs. According to doctors, conjoined twins are born one in two lakh children. Of these, 15 per cent are Dicephalic Paraphagus twins, 40 to 60 per cent of who are stillborn, 35 per cent live only for a day, and, overall, rarely 5 to 25 per cent survive.

The twins’ father, Irshad Khan, said, “I am worried. Two to three tests have been performed and the reports are still awaited. We want our twins to be healthy.”