RIYADH, 26 July 2006 — The Moroccan conjoined twins Hafsah and Elham, who underwent separation surgery successfully on March 4 at the King Abdul Aziz Medical City, left with their parents for Rabat early yesterday morning.
Dr. Saad Al-Mohrijj, deputy executive director of medical services at KAMC, Moroccan Ambassador Abdel Karim Sellar and KAMC Public Affairs Director Sami Al-Shalaan were present to see the parents and their children depart from the King Khaled International Airport.
“The twins who came into the Kingdom on a single passport, are going home with two passports,” Dr. Al Mohrijj told Arab News, saying that both the twins are in fine health.
On instructions from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, the twins were flown in to the Kingdom on Jan. 2 for separation surgery. Hafsah and Elham were separated by a multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah.
Following a series of tests, it was found that the twins were joined at the abdomen and pelvis, sharing one anus and one urinary opening. They were also joined at the spinal column and shared one pelvis and genitourinary system with duplication of the uterus of each twin. They had congenital heart disease, namely, multiple openings between the ventricles of each twin.
“In spite of the multiple joined organs, and the presence of congenital heart disease, the team decided to perform the surgery, accepting the risk of a success rate between 60 and 70 percent,” Dr. Al-Mohrijj said.
Ambassador Sellar thanked King Abdullah for his magnanimous gesture.
The twins’ parents were delighted. “King Abdullah gave my children a new lease on life,” said the twins’ father, Mostafa Fahim. “My wife and I are very grateful to the monarch and the medical team for their devotion in providing excellent medical treatment for our children.”
This was the 11th successful operation to separate conjoined twins at the KAMC. Dr. Al-Rabeeah’s team has performed 10 such operations, the most recent of which was the separation of Egyptian twins in June 2005. Since 1990, conjoined twins separated at the National Guard Hospital have all survived and are now leading normal lives.
