RIYADH, 5 December 2006 — Surgically separated Iraqi twins Fatima and Zahra are in stable condition, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, chief executive officer of the National Guard Health Affairs and chief surgeon of King Abdul Aziz Medical City (KAMC) said yesterday, approximately 30 hours following the surgery.
The twins successfully underwent a separation surgery on Saturday at the National Guard Hospital at KAMC by a team headed by Al-Rabeeah. The twins, who are now on two separate beds in the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit, are still under close supervision.
“Their vital signs are normal,” he said. “Their hearts, respiratory systems, livers, kidney and other body systems are functioning normally.”
He indicated that the twins, currently on artificial respiration, are being administered antibiotics, analgesics and anesthesia to relieve the pain, in line with the designed plan of the operation.
The twins were born on Jan. 25 at the Fatima Zahra Hospital in Iraq’s Sadr City. They were brought to the Saudi capital by air ambulance on Feb. 5 by orders of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who responded to the parents’ plea for help on Iraqi television.
The parents of the twins, Haidar and Majda, were all smiles yesterday as they came out of the PICU with Dr. Hussein Athawi, an Iraqi pediatrician who accompanied the family from Baghdad.
Haidar holding Ali, his one-year-old son, told Arab News that he was the happiest man on earth. “Our joy knew no bounds when we saw our babies resting on two different beds today. We are thankful to King Abdullah,” he said.
Dr. Athawi told Arab News that the parents are now busy purchasing baby items for the two infants. “They want to go home as quickly as possible to show the separated twins to their friends and relatives,” he said, adding that the family comes from a poor background.
The 11-month-old twins shared the same liver, colon, anus, urinary and genital system and were joined at the chest, abdomen and pelvis. The team led by Rabeeah, has performed 11 separations of conjoined twins, with a 100 percent success rate so far.
