RIYADH, 5 December 2004 — Doctors at King Abdul Aziz Medical City for the National Guard feel that surgically separating the Polish twins who will arrive in the Kingdom on Dec. 12 will be less complicated than previous operations performed here. The conjoined girls, Daria and Olga Kolacz, aged 13 months, will come here under the direct sponsorship of Crown Prince Abdullah.
The consultant pediatric surgeon at the medical city, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, said, “The initial examination sent by e-mail showed that the twins have a shared backbone, colon, pelvis, anal opening and genital system and possibly, a shared urinary system.”
Dr. Rabeeah said the initial tests would determine the possibility of separation and, if feasible, a date will be set for the surgery. A special medical team has been assigned to the girls. This will be the sixth such surgery done at this hospital though it will be the ninth performed in the Kingdom.
“We are thankful to Crown Prince Abdullah for allowing this surgery to be performed under his sponsorship,” the deputy head of mission at the Polish Embassy, Andrzej Wozniak, told Arab News.
The mother of the twins, Wieslawa Dabrowska, a 38-year-old seamstress, and a Polish woman doctor will accompany the children. The Polish doctor will remain with the children until the operation. Saudi Ambassador to Poland Osama Al-Sanoosi is coordinating arrangements through the Foreign Ministry in the Kingdom.
Wozniak said preliminary tests would take at least two months. He added, “The patients and the accompanying team will stay on the hospital housing compound where members of the Polish community will meet them.”
