Saudi surgeons separate 13-month-old Fijian conjoined twins in Riyadh

Mixed · 2A Saudi medical team began surgery on Thursday 15 October at King Abdullah Specialist Children's Hospital in Riyadh to separate 13-month-old Fijian conjoined twins, under the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program. 1 2 Right · 1The aid agency KSrelief, which runs the program, said the procedure involved 34 medical professionals and was planned in nine stages over about 15 hours. It described the operation as the 74th separation under the program. 1 Right · 1Dr Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, KSrelief supervisor general and head of the surgical team, said the twins arrived in Saudi Arabia on 21 July. He said assessment found them joined at the abdomen and pelvis, sharing a liver, intestines, colon, anus, urinary system, reproductive system and pelvic bone, and put the procedure's success rate at 70 percent. 1

Left · 1ABC News (Australia) reported that doctors later announced the twins had been successfully separated and that reconstruction was starting. It said the operation took almost 13 hours, and that the girls have their own hearts and lungs. 2 Left · 1ABC named the sisters as Dicecea and Jesepeli Kikau and said they were born joined at the lower abdomen and pelvis, a condition known as omphalo-ischiopagus tetrapus. It also reported that their parents, Akeneta Vulimaiigiladi and Watisoni, gave them the Arabic names Noorah (for Jesepeli) and Sarah (for Dicecea) before surgery. 2 Left · 1Three hours into the operation, Al Rabeeah told ABC it was "going well", "better than our expectation", and that the liver and bowel had been separated with no major bleeding. The mother said she was nervous as the girls went into theatre but felt less so watching by video link. 2

Left · 1The Fijian government said the family turned to Saudi Arabia after hospitals in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Mexico wanted large up-front payments, and called the free treatment a lifeline. The government also said this is the second recorded case of conjoined twins in Fiji in 50 years. The twins were born eight weeks premature and have a triplet sister, Hossana, who is not conjoined. 2 Mixed · 2Arab News said the case was the first separation of conjoined twins from Fiji, and that the program has cared for 159 sets of twins from 28 countries since 1990. ABC, citing the hospital, said the twins came from a program covering 29 countries. 1 2