A team from Vall d'Hebron successfully separates two conjoined twins

The girls were born conjoined at the abdomen at 32 weeks of gestation. Six months later, they were separated in a complex operation that few teams in the world are capable of performing.

February 2012

On August 10, 2011, Núria and Marta, two Siamese sisters joined at the abdomen and sharing a liver, were born at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital. The malformation had been detected at 12 months of gestation, during control ultrasound scans. It was decided to perform a planned caesarean section to guarantee the survival of the fetuses and avoid the foreseeable complications of childbirth. After birth, and upon checking that they were developing favorably and could feed and grow normally, they were discharged to wait for a better time for the separation surgery, between 5 and 12 months of age.

On February 27, when the girls were 6 months old, a multidisciplinary team from Vall d’Hebron separated them in a complex operation that lasted 7 hours and ended without complications. The surgery involved about thirty professionals, and the main challenges were the separation of the liver and the closure of the tissue and skin in the area of separation.

After having been looking at each other face to face during their first six months of life, once separated, Núria and Marta missed each other if they didn't see each other and cried constantly, recall the doctors and the girls' mother. But all that is behind them, and now Núria and Marta are two people with independent lives.

Cases of conjoined twins are exceptional, and survival is low at the time of birth. The surgical procedures to separate them are very complex, and that is why successes are rare. The separation of Núria and Marta is one of these successes.

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