Bangladeshi twin baby girls conjoined at the head are pictured at Bangladesh's largest Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on July 27, 2017. The twin baby girls will undergo a complex and dangerous surgery to separate their skull, as their parents and doctors are eagerly looking for advice from top experts worldwide, AFP reported Wednesday. (Xinhua/Salim Reza)
DHAKA, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi twin baby girls born connected at the head will undergo a complex and dangerous surgery to separate their skull, as their parents and doctors are eagerly looking for advice from top experts worldwide, AFP reported Wednesday.
"It would be a very delicate and sensitive surgery," Ruhul Amin, chief pediatric surgeon at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital Dhaka, told AFP.
"We're evaluating their condition and trying to contact experts across the world for opinions and help," Amin said.
Doctors will first need to know whether the one-year-old twins share the same brain, something that would vastly complicate the surgery.
The parents only knew they were having twins after the birth, and previous ultrasound tests didn't show any birth defects, the girls' father told AFP.
Although the separation surgery is very complex and may have fatal outcome, the parents still want their daughters to receive the surgery and have a better life.
Conjoined twins, namely twins physically connected to one another at some point on their bodies, are uncommon, occurring once in about every 200,000 live births, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Those who are connected at the head are in a condition called craniopagus, which is the rarest form, accounting for about 2 percent of conjoined twins, according to the medical center.
In June, a pair of 10-month-old twin girls from North Carolina in southeastern United States, who were also joined at the heads, underwent a successful separation surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, according to the hospital.
A multidisciplinary team of approximately 30 members participated in the 11-hour separation. Among the team members are physicians, nurses and other medical staff from neurosurgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery and anesthesiology.
"Separating conjoined twins is a very complex surgery followed by a long and complicated recovery, but we are very hopeful for a positive outcome," said Jesse Taylor, one of the team member and plastic surgeon, referring to the pair of American twins.
No date was given on the Bangladeshi twin girls' surgery nor participation of any global experts.
