Syrian twins conjoined at the head successfully separated

Doctors in a Saudi hospital have successfully separated Syrian twins conjoined at the head after a 10-hour operation.

Tuqa and Yakeen, who shared a skull but not a brain, were flown to Saudi Arabia as part of humanitarian efforts.

A team of 22 doctors performed the surgery at the Specialist Children’s Hospital at the King Abdul Aziz Medical City (KAMC) in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Sunday.

A spokesperson of the medical institute said that the surgery was actually the fourth and final stage to be performed on the twins.

“The hospital has performed preparatory surgeries since April 2014 on the twins,” he added.

Dr Ahmad Al-Furrayan, who was in charge of the operation, said it was one of the most complicated and difficult Siamese cases since the twins were conjoined at the head.

In June 2014, the veins between the twins’ brains were severed and a slice of silicon was inserted between them.

Three month later, the more veins were separated along with a portion of the arteries that carried blood between their brains.

Next the rest of the veins and arteries were separated along with a part of the shared brain.

Saudi Arabia has performed 37 surgeries on Siamese twins since 1990 with cases coming from 18 different countries including Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Morocco and Iraq.

In addition, almost 30 other cases were also treated although it was deemed impossible to separate them by medics.