Doctors at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston successfully separate conjoined twins
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, February 23, 2015, 2:33 AM
Updated: Monday, February 23, 2015, 11:29 AM
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Call it a triumph of modern medicine, times two.
Doctors at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston successfully separated a pair of 10-month-old conjoined girls through a breathtaking 26-hour procedure that involved at least six types of physicians.
The hospital announced that doctors had completed the detachment of Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata from one another’s chest and abdomen on Sunday night, KHOU-TV reported.
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The two-stage operation, which began on Feb. 17, required pediatric, urological, orthopedic, cardiac, gynecological and plastic surgery specialists, and doctors needed to disjoin the girls’ chest wall, lungs, heart linings, diaphragm, liver, intestines, colon and pelvis, according to the TV station.
"This surgery was not without its challenges with the girls sharing several organ systems,” Dr. Darrell Cass, a pediatric surgeon and co-director of Texas Children's Fetal Center, told KHOU. "Our team has been preparing for this surgery for months, and we've done everything from working with our radiology experts to build a 3-D model of their organs, to conducting simulations of the actual separation surgery."
TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITALThe surgery took place at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
Elysse Mata of Lubbock, who also has a 5-year-old son with her husband John, gave birth to the twins in April, with both girls weighing only three pounds and seven ounces, the Daily News previously reported.
Doctors at the hospital oversaw skin tissue expansion for the girls over the past several months to prepare the girls for their reconstruction after the separation.
"We are so grateful to all the surgeons and everyone who cared for our daughters and gave them the incredible chance to live separate lives," the girls’ mother told KHOU. "We know how much planning and time went into this surgery and we are so blessed to be at a place like Texas Children's where we have access to the surgeons and caretakers that have made this dream a reality."
The cause of conjoined twins is unknown and roughly 40% to 60% of them die in the womb, according to research from the Mayo Clinic. Less than half of those born alive are able to live long enough for any potential separation operations, the Mayo Clinic says.
