Top surgeons in the UK have carried out a shocking and gruelling operation to separate two one-year-old conjoined twins who were joined at the head.
The patients, Minal and Mirha, from Pakistan, are said to be recovering at the Turkish hospital where they were treated and are expected to make a full recovery.
The procedure, which lasted 14 hours and took place on July 19 at Bilkent City Hospital in Ankara, was performed by Professor Noor ul Owase Jeelani, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
The painstaking surgery involved a local team of doctors and was completed in two surgical stages over a three-month period.
It was a particularly risky task given where the twins were joined (at the front of the head), meaning they shared vital blood vessels and brain tissue.
Minal and Mirha from Pakistan successfully participated in a 14-hour operation that lasted three months.
Surgeons used state-of-the-art virtual reality headsets to “rehearse” the painstaking procedure.
“They are making an excellent recovery, really wonderful,” Professor Jeelani told Sky News.
They should be able to return to Pakistan in a few weeks.
The large team of surgeons relied on a special type of virtual reality to prepare for the highly complex operation.
The surgeons rehearsed their movements using so-called mixed reality (MR) technology, which involves combining 3D images, such as medical scans, with the physical world.
As well as allowing doctors to perform surgery, the MRI device also helped Professor Jeelani and his team train doctors at Ankara Hospital in Turkey on what to expect.
Dr. Jeelani had previously performed surgery to separate Bernardo and Arthur Lima, who were born with fused brains. The twins underwent several operations in Rio de Janeiro, under Dr. Jeelani’s direction. Pictured: The twins before the procedure with surgeon Dr. Noor ul Owase Jeelani (right) and their parents Adriely and Antonia Lima (left)
Professor Jeelani is a world-leading expert in highly technical operations such as this.
In 2022, she separated three-year-old Brazilian twins Bernardo and Arthur Lima during a procedure that lasted an astonishing 27 hours.
Dr Jeelani said he was “absolutely shattered” after the operation, where he only took four 15-minute breaks to eat and drink water.
But it was “wonderful” to see the family feeling “over the moon” afterwards, she said.
“There were a lot of tears and a lot of hugs. It was wonderful to be able to help them on this journey.”
She added that, as with all conjoined twins after separation, the boys’ blood pressure and heart rates were “through the roof” until they were reunited four days later and touched hands.
Dr Jeelani’s work is supported by his charity Gemini Untwined, which raises funds for siblings born joined at the head.
According to Gemini figures, one in every 60,000 births results in conjoined twins, and only 5 percent of these are what are known as craniopagus children, meaning they are fused at the head.
The life expectancy of twins who are not separated is very low.
About 40 percent of twins fused at the head are stillborn or die during delivery.