RIYADH, 21 April 2007 — Ten Saudi women surgeons are scheduled to participate in an operation today to separate a set of conjoined twins from Cameroon at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh.
“The operation will be conducted on the basis of a directive issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who responded to an appeal by the parents of the 13-month-old female twins — Phambom and Shefbou,” Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, chief executive officer of the National Guard Health Affairs and chief surgeon at KAMC, said yesterday. “The babies were admitted to the hospital three weeks ago and they have successfully undergone a series of clinical tests to ascertain the feasibility of the surgery.”
Following the initial medical tests conducted at KAMC, Rabeeah said that the condition of the twins, who were born in February last year, seemed stable. “The twins are joined at the area of the chest, the abdomen and the pelvis,” he said, pointing out that each of them has a single lower limb but they share a third one.
The surgeon added that the twins might have a single liver, digestive tract and reproductive tract.
The surgeon said the medical team expects a 65 percent chance of success for the surgery. “The twins are healthy and physically fit to undergo the separation without any problems,” he added.
Rabeeah said a multidisciplinary team of 65 medical professionals, including 10 Saudi women surgeons, would perform the operation.
The team conducted a mock surgery on Wednesday to ensure the smooth flow of the different phases of the 18-hour operation which is scheduled to start at 7.30 a.m. today.
Prior to their departure from Yaoundé, Saudi Ambassador to Cameroon Amjad Bedaiwi informed the twins’ parents of King Abdullah’s gesture, which includes free air passage and lodging for the family and the cost of the operation and related clinical tests.
Currently, the twins and their parents are accommodated in a suite at the KAMC and they will stay in the Kingdom till the twins fully recover following the operation.
Cameroonian Ambassador Labarang Mohamed thanked the king for bearing the entire cost of this expensive surgery. “We were honored by this royal gesture and I register our nation’s thanks to King Abdullah for this philanthropic act,” he said.
During the Janadriya Festival, the king received the conjoined twins who have been surgically separated in the Kingdom during the past 16 years.
The twins and their parents had an audience with the king at his private farm outside Riyadh. King Abdallah of Jordan, who was on a visit to the Kingdom, also attended the function.
Since 1990, a total of 12 operations to separate conjoined twins have been performed at the KAMC. Three sets of twins were from the Kingdom, two from Sudan and one each from Malaysia, Egypt, the Philippines, Poland, Morocco, Oman and Iraq.
