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