The teams spent months testing techniques using virtual reality projections of the twins’ image, based on CT scans and MRIs.
The operation was described by surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani as “a space age thing”.
It was one of the most complex separation processes ever completed, according to the charity that funded it — Gemini Untwined — which Jeelani founded in 2018.
He said that for the first time, surgeons in different countries wore headphones and operated together in the same “virtual reality room”.
The twins underwent seven surgeries, involving more than 27 hours of work in the final operation alone, and nearly 100 doctors.
‘Space age stuff’
“It’s just wonderful. It’s really great to see the anatomy and do the surgery before really putting children at risk,” Jeelani told the PA news agency.
“You can imagine how comforting this is for surgeons. In some ways, these operations are considered the most difficult of our time, and doing them in virtual reality was really a space-age thing.”
He said previous unsuccessful attempts to separate the boys meant their anatomy was complicated by scar tissue, and he was “really apprehensive” about the risky procedure.
Jeelani said he was “absolutely exhausted” after the 27-hour operation, during which he only took four 15-minute breaks to eat and hydrate, but that it was “wonderful” to see the family feeling “in the clouds” afterwards.
He added that, as with all conjoined twins after the split, the boys’ blood pressure and heart rates were high — until they were reunited four days later and touched hands.
The twins are recovering well in hospital and will have six months of rehabilitation ahead of them.
life change
This was Jeelani’s sixth separation procedure with Gemini Untwined, after previously operating on twins from Pakistan, Sudan, Israel and Turkey.
He led the procedure alongside doctor Gabriel Mufarrej, head of pediatric surgery at the Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, in Rio de Janeiro.
Mufarrej said the hospital where he works has been taking care of the boys for two and a half years, and their separation was a “life change”.
“Since the boys’ parents came from their home in the Roraima region to Rio to seek our help two and a half years ago, they have become part of our family here at the hospital.”
Bernardo and Arthur, at nearly four years old, are the oldest craniopagus twins — that is, fused-brain twins — to separate.
According to the charity, one in every 60,000 births results in conjoined twins, and only 5% of them are craniopagus.
This text was originally published here.
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