NewDelhi: Jaga and Baliya Kanhar, who were conjoined at head, are back to their home with their parents after they were separated in a successful surgery at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS).They are both healthy, accepting normal diet and are interacting well with their parents as before. “The team of doctors are satisfied with the progress shown by the twin kids,” said Prof AK Mahapatra.
The separation process had been complicated by the 27-month-old boys sharing the vein that returns blood to the heart from the brain
After creating a new channel to carry venous blood using an innovative bypass technique, doctors managed to separate a significant portion of the boys’ brain during a 22-hour procedure on August 28.
“They will undergo few more investigations in coming weeks to decide upon further surgeries,” said Prof Deepak Gupta who led the team with Prof AK Mahapatra. They may require 1-2 more operations before final separation.
The parents of Jaga and Baliya, poverty-stricken farmers from Odisha’s Kandhamal district, couldn’t afford to raise the kids in their condition and so sought the help of the government to fund their surgical separation. “We are thankful to our state government for arranging the transportation and other costs involved,” Bhuiyan Kanhar, the twins’ father, told doctors after the surgery.
At least one other pair of twins joined at the head is surviving without surgery in India. Sisters Saba and Farah of Patna are 20 years old. They were not operated upon because of the risks involved. Surgeons at Montefiore Hospital in New York recently separated 13-month-old twins joined at the head.
Bureau Report
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