Conjoined Twins Separated in London: 55 Hours of Surgery

Two-year-old sisters Safa and Marwa Ullah who were born with their head conjoined and blood vessels fused together have been separated after fifty five hours of long operations at Great Ormond Street hospital in London.
The two sisters were from Charsadda in Pakistan and came to London with their grandfather Mohammad Sadat and mother Zainab Bibi and began the four-month long process to separation.
The two girls had three major operations to separate their heads and they were consulted by doctors in the UK and eventually brought to Great Ormond Street. The girls have their first operation in the age of 19 months in October 2018.
“We are indebted to the hospital and to the staff and we would like to thank them for everything they have done. We are extremely about the future,” said their mother.
Reportedly, the surgeons first had to study the girls’ brains, and then spent months preparing for the complex surgery. They had to remove three large segments of skull, which they would later reattach between operations as a rigid frame held together by metal mesh and screws.
The surgeons used virtual reality which create an exact replica of the girls’ anatomies so that it remains clear that the operations went smoothly. This empowered specialists to imagine the intricate structure of their skulls just as the situating of their cerebrums and veins.
During the medical procedure, specialists previously attempted to to separate the girls’ blood vessels and then inserted a piece of plastic into their heads to keep the brains and blood vessels apart.
The final major operation involved medics building new skulls using the girls’ own bone.
The girls were discharged from hospital on 1 July. The surgeons expect them to live long and healthy lives.
> Puza Sarker Snigdha