Conjoined twins from Medan stable

Conjoined twins from Medan stable

Conjoined twins Angie and Angeli from Medan, North Sumatra, have
been stable for the last two weeks, but doctors will await an
improvement in their condition and for the results of several
more tests before performing separation surgery.

According to coordinator of public services in the RSCM
children's ward Harry Purwanto, the three-month-old infants
needed to have arteriography to assess the flow in blood vessels
to the legs and retrograph pielography (RPG) to determine who
would receive the bowel, currently shared.

"We will make an artificial anus for the other baby," he said
on Monday.

Angie and Angeli, who were born on Feb. 11 at the Gita Insani
Hospital, Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, are joined from the
waist down, with one kidney each and separate digestive systems.

The baby girls share a bowel and a third leg. Each has one leg
and a heart, although Angeli's heart is located on the right side
of her body.

"Angeli will need thorax surgery," said Purwanto.

He added that the hospital also needed to update its equipment
as part of preparations for the surgery. A team of 25 to 30
doctors has been prepared for the high-risk operation.

-- Leony Aurora