RIYADH, 25 June 2005 — Egyptian conjoined twins Alaa and Walaa will undergo a separation surgery today at King Abdul Aziz Medical City for National Guard here under the directives from Crown Prince Abdullah. The Egyptian twins were delivered on April 19 at the hospital by Caesarian section.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, the chief executive officer of the medical facility, will lead the separation surgery.
The twins, who had a combined weight of approximately 5 kg at birth, are fused at the lower chest and abdomen, and there is an abdominal wall defect (omphalocele) with a diameter of 7.5 cm.
Since birth, the twins are being treated at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of KAAMC. A multidisciplinary team headed by Dr. Rabeeah, conducted detailed pre-surgical investigations including basic blood tests, liver and kidney functions, special diagnostic imaging such as ultrasound, CT scan and a thorough work-up of the hearts during the past six weeks.
“The multidisciplinary team has met on several occasions to review the twins, and has found the twins joined at the lower chest with fusion of the lower ribs, sternum, and abdomen,” a hospital spokesman said.
According to the team’s findings, the twins share a liver and possibly the bowel. While Walaa has major heart defects such as an underdeveloped right ventricle, VSD (ventricular septal defect or an opening in the septum, the wall separating the right and left ventricles), and ASD (atrial septal defect or a hole in the wall separating right and left atria, the upper chambers of the heart), the tests confirmed that Alaa’s heart has a smaller defect between the ventricles.
The respiratory, urinary, genital systems and upper and lower limbs are all normal.
“Due to the major heart anomalies of Walaa, and to protect the twin Alaa, the multidisciplinary team has decided to proceed with the separation of the twins, on an urgent basis, to avoid the impending deterioration of Walaa’s heart,” Dr. Rabeeah said. The operation is scheduled to take place at 7.30 a.m., and is expected to last approximately 10 hours and will be carried out in seven phases, he added.
Since 1990, nine surgeries for the separation of conjoined twins have been performed by Dr. Rabeeah’s team in the Kingdom.
Three sets of twins were from the Kingdom, two from Sudan and one each from Malaysia, Egypt and the Philippines. The latest operation was on Jan. 3 this year to separate Polish twins Daria and Olga. All nine operations were successful.
