| SIAMESE twins joined by the liver and abdomen have been successfully separated by Barcelona's Vall de Hebrón hospital.
The surgeon who performed this long and delicate operation says he does not expect the two girls to suffer any complications.
Núria and Marta were born ia Caesarian section on August 10, and their mother had known they would be joined at the liver after her 12-week scan revealed the devastating news.
To prepare for the separation operation, their mother (pictured with the children's grandmother) had to wait until they were six months old and had acquired a joint weight of 12 kilos.
They were in the operating theatre for seven hours on February 27, but are now expected to live a completely normal life, save for periodic check-ups.
This pioneering operation is only the fourth of its kind in Spain which has led to the survival of both babies.
One case was in Sevilla and the other two were in Madrid.
Siamese twins account for approximately one in 200,000 births, and their survival rate is between five and 25 per cent.
If they survive long enough after birth, around 53 per cent come out of a separation operation alive. |
