RIYADH, 30 October 2007 — Safa and Marwah, two Omani conjoined babies, who were brought to the Kingdom in December last year, were successfully separated following an 18-hour surgery at the King Abdul Aziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh.
“This was the first time we have used very special and delicate equipment such as a neuro navigator, a volume dextro scope, a mobile CT scanner and a special anesthesia support table,” said Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, chief executive officer of KAMC.
He added that the surgery, which was carried out following an order by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, was conducted in seven phases by a 22-member team of health professionals. A rehearsal was carried out on Wednesday, two days prior to the separation.
The two babies, who were joined in the head, were born in August 2006 along with a third male called Yahya in Muscat. Dr. Al-Rabeeah said that the conjoined babies arrived in Riyadh on Dec. 22. A multidisciplinary team was formed to prepare the infants for the surgery, which took 10 months.
“Many special investigations were done over several weeks and months, and after several meetings the team agreed to proceed with the separation at a possible success rate of 60 percent,” he noted.
In preparation for the operation, Dr. Al-Rabeeah recalled that special balloons were put under the skin of the babies’ heads over the last few months to stretch the skin and increase its surface area to cover the head after separation.
The twins are expected to stay in an intensive care unit for two weeks, after which they will be sent to a pediatric ward for rehabilitation, which will take several weeks. “The infants will require further operations to reconstruct their skulls,” Dr. Rabeeah added.
Muhammad ibn Nasser Al-Jardani, father of the two girls, was in high spirits after the surgery. He thanked King Abdullah and Dr. Rabeeah’s surgical team for the separation.
