Mumbai’s conjoined twins don’t require surgery urgently, say doctors

Doctors said conjoined twins are extremely rare, with one in two lakh cases across the world, and 5-25% survival rate.

A set of conjoined twins — born with a common heart — will not be rushed into surgery, said doctors at the civic-run LTMG Hospital in Sion. The babies were born to a 26-year-old woman, a Sion resident, on Wednesday morning through a caesarian section.

“The babies are doing fine. A surgery is not required urgently. We are doing tests such as CT scan and MRI to check the feasibility of operating on them,” said Dr Paras Kothari, head of department, paediatric surgery, LTMG Hospital.

Read: Rare conjoined twins share heart, lungs and kidneys

“We need permission from their parents and the hospital’s ethics committee before we can operate on them. We will definitely not perform a surgery for the next 3 to 4 days,” he said.

The babies, who weigh around 4kgs, have separate heads and partially common lungs. However, they are completely fused below the abdomen.

“They have two legs and three hands. One of the hands is fused together,” said Dr Kothari.

“In such a case, separating them is not an option. One of the babies may die,” said YS Nandanwar, head of gynaecology department, LTMG Hospital.

Only in cases where the twins share common organs like liver or kidney, there is a possibility of both surviving, he said.

The mother of the conjoined twins, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, may undergo a psychological evaluation. “We will discharge the mother in a day or two. Until now the babies were being fed from the milk bank. But the mother will soon be allowed to do so,” said Dr Nandanwar.