Filipino conjoined twins, Clarence(L) and Carl Aguirre, seen here in February 2004 before surgery, were in stable condition, hours after being separated in a landmark surgical procedure spread over 10 months. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    MANILA, Aug. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A pair of two-year-old Filipino twins who joined at the head were successfully separated by the US doctors on Thursday morning ( Manila time).

    Reports reaching here from New York said that conjoined twins Carl and Clarence Aguirre were separated after what was described in a news bulletin as a "difficult and excruciating" operation at hospital.

    "At 10:32 p.m. (New York time) on Wednesday, Carl and Clarence Aguirre were separated. Their surgical tables, until this point head-to-head, were moved apart and rotated about 30 degrees so that the brothers would still be near one another, and so the surgical team could continue to work side-by-side," the Montefiore Children's Hospital said in a bulletin posted on their website.

    According to the hospital staff, the twins were "in stable condition" but they still stay in the emergency room.

    "Several hours of difficult, excruciatingly delicate and demanding micro-surgery remain tonight for the 16-person team," the bulletin said.

    According to a TV report, in their hometown of Silay in Negros Occidental province, the twins' family kept a prayer vigil for the success of the operation.

    As the hospital said, the latest operation is extremely high-risk since they had to manage to separate the final remaining shared veins while avoiding any excessive bleeding or swelling of the brains.

    At the request of their mother, the hospital took up the separation treatment on the twins, who have already suffered from aspiration pneumonia and other medical challenges caused by their current condition. Enditem