Brazil Conjoined twins reunited at the head separated in multiple surgeries
After the operation, the parents stand by the bedside of the twins
© Arthur Pereira / AFP
In a series of surgeries, Brazilian doctors managed to separate conjoined twins joined at the head. Saving the two is a historic achievement, said a Rio de Janeiro neurosurgeon.
“It was the most difficult, complex and challenging operation of my career,” neurosurgeon Gabriel Mufarrej of IECPN’s Brain Center in Rio de Janeiro said Monday of the separation of the three-year-old twins. years Arthur and Bernardo Lima. “At first, no one thought it was possible. Saving them both was a historic feat.” In several operations, doctors in Brazil have managed to separate conjoined twins connected at the head.
The siblings from Roraima state in northern Brazil, who were born in 2018 and will soon be four, were so-called craniopagus twins. This means that they were bandaged on the head, which is very rare. Their separation required a total of nine surgeries, the last of which lasted 23 hours. The medical team had nearly 100 members. The procedure was complicated by the fact that the twins shared important brain vessels.
Siamese twins before the breakup
© Arthur Pereira / AFP
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Surgeons also used virtual reality to prepare for procedures. Using brain scans, they created a kind of map of Arthur and Bernardo’s heads and practiced the operations beforehand. British surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani, involved in the project, spoke of “space” technology. “It’s just wonderful, it’s great to be able to see the anatomy and do the surgery (virtually) before the kids are put in harm’s way.”
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Photos and videos released after the successful surgeries show the siblings in a hospital bed, holding hands. The boys are still recovering from the procedures and additional surgeries may be needed in the future. Bernardo has motor deficits on the right side of his body.
“It will take time for them to be where we want them to be,” surgeon Mufarrej said. “But I believe in her.”
