Conjoined US twins separated in rare operation

Left: 13-month-old twins Jadon and Anias McDonald before they underwent 16-hour surgery. Above: Jadon recovering after the procedure. Although the surgery was a success, the outlook for the brothers' health remains unclear
Above: 13-month-old twins Jadon and Anias McDonald before they underwent 16-hour surgery. PHOTOS: NICOLE MCDONALD/FACEBOOK
Left: 13-month-old twins Jadon and Anias McDonald before they underwent 16-hour surgery. Above: Jadon recovering after the procedure. Although the surgery was a success, the outlook for the brothers' health remains unclear
Above: Jadon recovering after the procedure. Although the surgery was a success, the outlook for the brothers' health remains unclear PHOTOS: NICOLE MCDONALD/FACEBOOK

NEW YORK • Surgeons at a New York City hospital have separated a pair of 13-month-old baby boys who were congenitally joined at the head, completing a rare operation that carried a risk of death and severe brain damage, their mother said.

Jadon and Anias McDonald of Coal City, Illinois, underwent 16 hours of surgery at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Centre in the Bronx on Friday as the surgical team, led by Dr James Goodrich, fully detached their skull and brain tissue, Mrs Nicole McDonald wrote on Facebook.

While the twins survived the surgery, the outlook for their health is unclear.

"We are standing on the brink of a vast unknown," Mrs McDonald wrote. "The next few months will be critical in terms of recovery and we will not know for sure how Anias and Jadon are recovering for many weeks."

High-tech modelling was used to help the surgeons separate the brothers, but the vasculature involved in the procedure was more complex than the images showed, Mrs McDonald said.

During the operation, surgeons found a 5cm-by-7cm area of brain tissue with no clear line of dissection.

"Dr Goodrich had to make the call and the final cut based on his instinct," added Mrs McDonald.

Anias, who remained in surgery longer than Jadon, appeared to suffer more than his brother by the separation of the brain tissue.

Anias, whose heart rate and blood pressure dropped during the operation, is being monitored for brain swelling and stroke. He is expected to suffer some type of paralysis during his recovery.

Jadon "hardly batted an eye through the whole procedure in terms of maintaining his vitals," said his mother.

The twins, who also underwent skull reconstruction on Friday, will be intubated for about a week while their brains and vital signs are monitored.

About one in 200,000 births produce conjoined twins, with about half arriving stillborn and about a third surviving a single day, according to the University of Maryland Medical Centre.

Success rates in surgical separation are similarly dismal and depend on the point of connection.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on October 16, 2016, with the headline Conjoined US twins separated in rare operation. Subscribe