Members of a Jordanian medical team announced that they have successfully separated two Yemeni conjoined twins after a rare eight-hour operation. The chief surgeon recently announced that the seven-month-old babies are nowhow normal children can grow up. It is a rare and delicate procedure that is a medical success for the entire kingdom, according to doctor Fawzi al-Hammouri. The almost eight-hour operation therefore required 25 surgeons and technical consultants to carry out.
New life for conjoined twins
However, Amman's specialized hospital has so far delayed any announcement because the babies required intensive care, artificial ventilation and intravenous nutrition for a long time after the operation. In addition, the doctors wanted to wait until they were 100 percent sure that everything went well. Now the twins Ahmed and Mohammed are in excellent health, the team reports. Your chances of survival are also very high. A United Nations medical flight brought the babies and their parents to Jordan in February. They were born in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa in mid-December and were in critical condition. When they arrived, the two weighed three kilograms and 700 grams. The surgeons waited until they weighed a total of nine kilograms.
The babies are still with their parents in Jordan but are expected to return home in two or three weeks. Seven years of war between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces have devastated health care in Yemen. Around 80 percent of the country's 30 million inhabitants, long the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, are dependent on aid. In February 2019, conjoined twins died in Sanaa two weeks after their birth. Such babies develop when an early embryo only partially separates. In this way, two individuals are formed who remain physically connected, according to doctors. Many conjoined twins even die shortly after birth. However, advances in surgery and technology have significantly improved survival rates.
