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Conjoined twins: Australian surgeons try to separate Bhutanese girls Conjoined twins: Bhutanese girls separated in six-hour surgery
(about 5 hours later)
Surgeons in Australia have begun a complex operation to separate Bhutanese conjoined twins. Surgeons in Australia have separated conjoined twins from Bhutan in a life-changing operation.
The 15-month-old girls, Nima and Dawa Pelden, are joined at the torso and share a liver and possibly a bowel, doctors say. The 15-month-old girls, Nima and Dawa Pelden, had been joined at the torso and shared a liver.
They were brought to Melbourne with their mother to have surgery in October, but it was postponed so the girls could improve their nutrition. They were brought to Melbourne with their mother last month, but doctors delayed the surgery until Friday to improve the girls' nutrition needs.
Doctors said they were confident the twins were now ready for the operation. Lead surgeon Dr Joe Crameri said the six-hour surgery had been a success and the twins were "doing very well".
About 18 specialists in two teams, one for each girl, are taking part in the procedure at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. The surgery is expected to last at least six hours. Dr Crameri said it was a "joy" to inform their mother, Bhumchu Zangmo, of the success - saying she had been "very grateful".
About 18 specialists in two teams, one for each girl, took part in the procedure at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.
Conjoined twins are very rare - it is thought one in every 200,000 births - and around 40-60% of these births are delivered stillborn.Conjoined twins are very rare - it is thought one in every 200,000 births - and around 40-60% of these births are delivered stillborn.
Only a few separations are carried out around the world each year.Only a few separations are carried out around the world each year.
Nima and Dawa face each other, and cannot sit down together. They can stand if they do so at the same time. Nima and Dawa had grown facing each other, and could not sit down together. They could stand but only at the same time.
"What we will be looking for is simply what bits actually connect the two girls together," lead surgeon Dr Joe Crameri told reporters on Friday. Doctors successfully divided the twins' liver. The girls were found not to share a bowel - something surgeons had said was an "unknown" before the operation.
Dr Crameri said they would separate the liver, but one "unknown" was whether the girls shared a bowel. "We always felt confident that we could achieve this," Dr Crameri said. "But we just did not know what we would find."
If so it would also be divided, he said, and "our challenge will be to reconstruct their abdominal walls to close it over". The family was brought to Australia from Bhutan by Children First Foundation, an Australian-based charity.
The girls and their mother, Bhumchu Zangmo, 38, were brought to Australia from Bhutan by Children First Foundation, an Australian-based charity. Elizabeth Lodge, from the charity, said Ms Zangmo had felt "a little bit scared", but had shown "extraordinary calmness" before the procedure.
Elizabeth Lodge, from the charity, said Ms Zangmo was feeling "a little bit scared" about the procedure, but had shown "extraordinary calmness" so far.
Ms Zangmo would spend the day praying and meditating, she added.
The state of Victoria has offered to cover the A$350,000 (£195,000; $255,000) cost of the operation.The state of Victoria has offered to cover the A$350,000 (£195,000; $255,000) cost of the operation.
The family is expected to return to the Himalayan kingdom, one of the world's poorest nations, after the procedure. The family is expected to return to the Himalayan kingdom, one of the world's poorest nations, after the twins have recovered.
In 2009, the same hospital performed a successful operation to separate Bangladeshi conjoined twins.In 2009, the same hospital performed a successful operation to separate Bangladeshi conjoined twins.
The girls, Trishna and Krishna, who were joined at the head, underwent a life-saving 32-hour operation.The girls, Trishna and Krishna, who were joined at the head, underwent a life-saving 32-hour operation.