RIYADH: A specialized medical team from Saudi Arabia’s conjoined twins separation program began on Thursday, at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh, a complex surgery to separate 13-month-old Moroccan conjoined twins Saja and Doha.

The Saudi aid agency KSrelief said: “Upon the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the medical and surgical team of the Saudi conjoined twins program began the separation surgery this morning for the 13-month-old Moroccan conjoined twins, Saja and Doha.

“The procedure is taking place at the King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital at the King Abdulaziz Medical City of the Ministry of National Guard in Riyadh.”

The program is run under the patronage of the Saudi leadership and operated through KSrelief.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, supervisor general of KSrelief and head of the separation program’s medical and surgical team, told Arab News that the twins had arrived in the Kingdom on April 24.

The medical team then conducted detailed examinations and held multiple meetings, determining that the twins were conjoined at the chest and abdomen and shared the membranes surrounding the heart, liver, and intestines.

Al-Rabeeah added that tests revealed a laryngeal issue in one of the twins, which required an endoscopic procedure to treat the congenital defect.

He added that the surgery was being performed in six stages over about 10 hours and involved 23 consultants, specialists, nurses, and technical staff. 

He explained that it was a highly complex procedure with a success rate of more than 70 percent.

Al-Rabeeah noted it was the fourth separation surgery performed for conjoined twins from Morocco and the 73rd case undertaken by the Saudi program, which has cared for 159 sets of twins from 28 countries across five continents since the start of the program in 1990.

Al-Rabeeah, on behalf of his team, expressed appreciation to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their support for the program.