U.K. Doctors Separate Conjoined Twins

No Word On Baby Girls' Condition; They Were Connected From Breastbone To Bellybutton And Shared Some Organs

(AP)  British doctors conducted surgery to separate twins joined at the chest on Tuesday, hospital officials said.

Stephen Cox, a spokesman for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, said the decision to separate Faith and Hope Williams was brought forward, after concerns developed Monday night. Cox would not specify what the concerns were.

The twins were born last week to Laura and Aled Williams. Doctors originally said they would have preferred to wait to separate the twins until they were older. The final decision to operate was made by the family.

The baby girls are joined at the abdomen. They are said to share a liver and intestines.

There was no word Tuesday night on how the operation went. The BBC said the hospital would provide an update Tuedsay morning.

"I would be optimistic about their chances," said Dr. Charles Stolar, pediatric surgeon in chief at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. Stolar is not connected to the British case, but has performed similar operations in the past.

"In general, this is a very fixable problem," he said.

But Stolar said that without knowing the details of the case, there could be other variables that could complicate the twins' prognosis.

Twins who share an abdomen usually share the liver, bile ducts from the liver, and various parts of the intestines. Conjoined twins occur about once in every 50,000 live births in the United States.

Twins joined at the chest are easier to separate than those joined elsewhere, like at the head. Last month, doctors in Cleveland decided it would have been too risky to separate 4-year-old twins born in Italy, connected at the head.

There are at least 40 doctors, nurses and other health professionals involved in the separation of the Williams twins in London.

During the surgery, doctors will have to divide the liver and ensure that each baby has enough intestinal tract to digest food. Doctors might also have to deal with other issues, such as if the kidneys are not distributed evenly or if they share part of the pelvis.

Lastly, doctors will need to close up the babies' abdomens, which may be tricky if there is not enough skin and muscle.

Depending on how complicated the surgery is, separated twins usually need to spend several weeks in the hospital as their recovery is monitored.

Stolar said that if there were no other complications — like heart or lung problems — then the babies would likely have few long-term problems, apart from not having belly buttons.

Hospital spokesman Cox said an update would be issued later, but didn't say when.

[zwaggsy]

good luck & God bless!