Based on the directive of the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, an emergency separation of female conjoined twins was performed at King Abdulaziz Medical City- Riyadh, on Thursday, 20 August 2009.
A 27 year old Bahraini mother was pregnant with a set of conjoined twins which was a unique case in which one of the twins was suffering with lethal anomalies including the brain, heart and lungs and was expected to die immediately while the other twin was normal.
The twins were joined at the abdomen and pelvis (ischio-pagus) and shared a fused genito-urinary system, pelvis as well as fusion of the distal spinal column.
Due to the unique case and the immediate danger for the normal baby the Surgical/Medical Team decided to perform an emergency Caesarian Section and start resuscitation prior to the separation of the placenta (EXIT PROCEDURE) followed by a very urgent separation of the twins to maintain the life of the normal baby.
The procedure was given a 20% success rate for the normal baby and the other baby was expected to die shortly after birth. The procedure lasted for 5 hours. Twenty eight members of the Multidisciplinary Team were involved in the separation.
This is a breakthrough success which according to medical literature is the 3rd of its kind in the world, two of which were performed by the same Team at King Abdulaziz Medical City – Riyadh.
The parents are very happy and are extremely thankful to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for his kindness and generosity as well as to the attending Medical Team as stated by the Head of the Multidisplinary Team, Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah.