Doctors separate rare case of twins conjoined at pelvis in Vietnam

By Le Phuong, Tran Ngoan   August 29, 2017 | 11:09 pm PT
It is only the 29th time on medical records such procedure has been performed worldwide.

Two baby girls who were born sharing the terminus of their spines are in stable condition a week after doctors in Saigon performed a surgery to separate them.

Bao An and Bao Han, born in July last year in the southern province of Binh Phuoc, are now able to lie flat on their backs.

However, doctors said it will take years to tell if their neurological functions are working properly.

They have been cared for at Children’s Hospital No.2, a leading pediatric facility in the city, since they were born. The operation took doctors nearly 12 hours to perform on Wednesday last week.

Two bodies joined at the pelvis, known medically as pygopagus, is one of the rare types of conjoined twins, accounting for 6-19 percent of all cases.

The case in Saigon is the first treated in Vietnam in 40 years, and the 29th case reported in global medical records, doctors at the hospital said.

 
 
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