Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Video Credit: CEN/@INSNSB
Two adorable toddlers will be home with their loving family for Christmas after the conjoined twins were separated at the pelvis during a 17-hour operation that involved 40 specialists.
The twins’ 20-year-old mother Ximena Morales – who said the news was the “best Christmas present ever” – was told that the boys were conjoined when she was six months pregnant.
Edgar and Dominick, joined at the pelvis and abdomen, were born on 22nd December 2018 in the western Peruvian capital Lima weighing 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3 lbs).
Little Dominick had a malformed oesophagus and doctors decided to resolve that issue first while agreeing to wait for the twins to gain weight before attempting to separate them.
When the tots were nearly a year old, a team of 40 specialists successfully carried out the separation.
Head surgeon Jose Luis Apazaga Leon said they spent nine months discussing the procedure and reconstructing the tots’ anatomies in 3D to fully understand what they were dealing with.
The conjoined twins, who shared a pelvis, anus and urogenital sinus, spent 17 hours in the operation theatre, according to reports.
A second phase 12 hours later then focused on reconstructing the boys’ tissues.
According to reports, the situation occurs in one out of every 200,000 cases around the world and the survival rate is between five and 25 percent.
The young mum thanked the doctors for their efforts and the medical expenses were reportedly covered by the country’s Ministry of Health.
She said: “This is the best Christmas present ever. I wanted them separated and at home with me.”
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