The risk factors in separating conjoined twins Veena and Vani include them becoming comatose, becoming crippled for life and dying on the operation table, doctors from the All India Institute of Medic
The risk factors in separating conjoined twins Veena and Vani include them becoming comatose, becoming crippled for life and dying on the operation table, doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences have stated. The doctors have said that intricate neurological veins are intertwined between the two and the surgery would be highly risky.
In a detailed report sent to the government of Telangana and Niloufer Hospital on Thursday, AIIMS doctors stated that the twins shared important blood vessels and due to this there were chances of death on the operating table. Veena and Vani are fused at the skulls but have separate brains. Dr Ramesh Reddy, professor and head of the department of pediatric surgery said, “A similar concern had also been shared by the doctors from United Kingdom who had examined the girls in 2015. The AIMS doctors have confirmed the same and we have conveyed it to the parents.”
However, doctors at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in United Kingdom were confident despite the odds. Neurosurgeons Dr David Dunaway and Dr Owase Jeelani had said that there was an 80 per cent chance of separating them.
Dr Dunaway in February 2015 had said, “The surgery would be conducted in five stages, over eight to 12 months, but it is safe. There would be 50 to 100 healthcare workers including specialists who would be working on the case. There is a risk involved but we are confident of achieving good results.”
This stand had the doctors in the hospital elated, but they are now in a somber mood following the AIIMS observation.
The twins’ parents, Mr Naga and Ms Maragani Murali, were called to the hospital on Thursday and told about the AIIMS doctors’ apprehensions. With surgery being ruled out, they were asked to take the girls back.
A senior doctor said, “They have been staying in the hospital since April 2006. Now they are 13-years-old and it is not possible for them to continue staying here. The parents have been told the same and they need to take them back.”
The parents have asked for five days to consult with their family members. They said that they didn’t have the expertise to take care of the girls or the requisite amount of money.
Doctors at the hospital said, “They are looking for some donations and also the help of caregivers to look after the twins.”
Box: Veena and Vani’s history Veena and Vani were born on October 15, 2003 in Warangal.
1) Carniophagus Conjoint Twins – The mother releases a single egg that fails to separate completely after fertilization. Though the embryo starts splitting into two, the process stops in the middle and this partial separation is the cause for the birth of conjoined twins.
2) The first examinations were carried out in Guntur General Hospital.
3) In April 2006, they were shifted to Niloufer Hospital and they have been there since, in a separate room on the third floor.
4) Dr Ashish Mehta, neurosurgeon from Breach Candy Hospital, had first evaluated the girls for necessary surgery.
6) On January 16, 2008, they were shifted to Mumbai and were under his care for a month. The issue was discussed with the hospital trustees but a lukewarm response and fear of the outcome led to the idea of a surgery being dropped.
7) Dr Keith Goh, consultant neurosurgeon from East Shore Hospital, Singapore was invited to examine the twins. The doctor had earlier operated on Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. He explained about the residual neurological deficit to the local doctors. It was discussed in detail with the parents and they were unwilling to give consent for separating the twins.
8) With surgery being refused, doctors at Niloufer hospital asked the state government to rehabilitate the girls as they were not mingling with children of their age group. The parents were farm workers and stated that it was not possible for them to take care of them.
9) In January 2012, the parents told the state government that if there was any development in the field of medicine and if surgery was feasible, the state government would have to bear the costs.
10) Fresh efforts were then made to try and see if the twins could be separated and Dr David James Dunaway, consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon at London, was contacted. The doctor examined them on February 2015. He had done a similar surgery on one-year-old Sudanese twins and it was successful. In this case too doctors were optimist but it would require taking the girls to London along with their family members. But it was unclear who would bear the medical expenses.
