Expert panel to decide on surgery for conjoined boys

The conjoined twins that was born to a 26-year-old woman at Sion Hospital Wednesday last week have become a medical challenge for doctors.

A special committee comprising four senior medical faculty members will take a call on Monday whether a surgery to separate the baby boys could be performed.

Doctors at the hospital said both the mother, Shahin Khan, and the twins were in good health and stable. The conjoined twins have two fully developed heads, joined from above the chest, and three arms, with the third protruding from the back. An ultrasonography test conducted at Sion Hospital during the woman’s 32nd week of pregnancy revealed the foetus was of conjoined twins.

The internal structure of the twins is complex. They have one liver and heart with two aortas. One of them has two lungs, while it is underdeveloped in the other. The structure of the urinary bladder is not clear.

However, the doctors are faced with the tough task of deciphering the co-relation between the brain, nerves and organs.

Paediatric surgeon Dr Paras Kothari said, “Conjoined twins are rare and a surgical separation of the two is a risky procedure. They have a complex internal architecture. Externally, they have separate heads and necks, but a partially common thorax; they are completely fused below the umbilicus level. We are performing a few tests on them, few of which have already been performed. Depending on the results, we will proceed to separate them surgically. We will take a call tomorrow.”

The team of doctors constituted to make the decision includes paediatric surgeons, neonatologists, paediatric cardiac surgeons and paediatric anaesthetists, among others.

To evaluate the complex operation, a few tests were conducted on multi-slice CT scanner, 3D rotational CT angiography, multi-planar re-construction and other complex CT techniques. “These tests will help establish the communication between the brains and other parts of the nervous system, including the nerve supply to limbs, among others. A 2D echocardiography is also planned to evaluate the single heart that the twins share. After these investigations are complete, the next course of action will be decided,” said Dr Suleman Merchant, dean, Sion Hospital.

Irshad Khan, the father of baby, said, “I am worried for the baby. The doctors have promised they whatever is necessary, I just want our baby to be healthy.”