UPDATE 2-Conjoined babies separated in Singapore

UPDATE 2-Conjoined babies separated in Singapore (Adds parents' comment) By Sebastian Tong SINGAPORE, May 21 (Reuters) - Doctors in Singapore have separated 15-month-old Indonesian twin girls conjoined at the waist and hip, a member of the medical team said on Saturday. Angeli and Angge, who share three legs and whose intestines are joined, were separated after eight hours of surgery in the Gleneagles Hospital. "They have been physically separated, but it does not mean that they are out of danger," a member of the medical team told Reuters. She added that the operation, which began on Saturday morning, was continuing as surgeons are reconstructing their abdomens. "I am so relieved. I have hoped for them to be separated and now it's come true. I looked into the operating room and I saw the moment when they were separated and another team of doctors came to stitch their wounds," Singapore state broadcaster Channel NewsAsia quoted the girls' father Sobari as saying. "I thank God because both my daughters are now separated, and safe...I'm asking those of you watching on television to pray for us," the girls' mother said. The girls, born in rural poverty in Indonesia's province of Medan, were sponsored by wealthy Indonesians after a local doctor refused to operate on them. The twins arrived in Singapore in February and have undergone a string of medical tests to assess the risks involved in the operation. Keith Goh, the neurosurgeon who led an operation on Iranian twins in 2003, told Reuters the surgeons in this procedure would have to create separate digestive systems for both girls. Because of their limited ability to move, conjoined twins often succumb to a host of medical problems, including blood clots and pressure sores, said Goh, who was also involved in two other operations on conjoined twins in Singapore. State broadcaster Channel NewsAsia reported earlier this week that the most complex part of the surgery would be to ensure the proper functioning of their lower bodies after separation, as the twins share one anus. Local media reports have said each girl would end up with just one leg because the third leg lacks a proper knee or hip joints. Conjoined twins occur roughly once in every 50,000 births and once in every 200,000 live births. Many of those born alive do not live long. For twins who undergo surgery, one of them often dies after the operation and the rate of survival beyond the age of two is just 20 percent. In 2003, Singapore's Raffles Hospital conducted an unprecedented operation to separate Iranian adult twins, Ladan and Laleh Bijani, who were joined at the head. Despite marathon 52-hour surgery, led by a team of 28 specialists and 100 assistants, the twins died. Later in 2003, the hospital performed a successful operation to separate South Korean twin baby girls joined at the spine.

GetRTR 3.00 -- MAY 21, 2005 19:57:00