Feel-Good News: Conjoined twins successfully separated
Ntombikayise Tyhalisi’s twins were born conjoined at the head and after undergoing surgery earlier this year, they have been separated at The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH) in Cape Town, South Africa.
According to the SABC News Western Cape, the twins were brought into The Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH) in February when they were just four days old.
"The proud mother, 31 year-old Ntombikayise Tyhalisi, said after the unique operation that she could not believe that she would be able to hold Siphosethu and Amahle in separate arms after their birth."
Professor Tony Figaji, who is the Head of Paediatric Neurosurgery at the RCWMCH, shared that the babies were joined at the head and had a condition called craniopagus twinning, which is the rarest form of conjoined twinning. He said: "It occurs approximately once in every two-point-five million live births in the world."
It is such a miracle to hear that the twins and their mother are doing well, especially considering the rarity of their condition. "Each twin was assigned a team which comprised of an anaesthetist, neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon, and nurses," GoodThingsGuy.com revealed.
“We were fortunate in this case that the connection did not involve any shared brain tissue and didn’t involve major [blood] vessels going from one twin to the other,” says Professor Figaji.
Just in time for International Nurses Day, the doctors thanked their team for the amazing dedication and efforts taken in caring for the twins and aiding in their recovery.
“We’re proud of the entire multidisciplinary team involved in helping these twin patients: from the birthing team in the Eastern Cape and the referring clinicians, to our staff in the wards and theatre and then to those involved with the post-surgery care. A huge thank you to everyone,” says Dr. Anita Parbhoo, acting CEO for RCWMCH.