Swiss doctors at Bern University Hospital, Switzerland have successfully separated conjoined twins, joined at the chest and liver, on December 10, 2015 and is reported to be the youngest ever successfully separated conjoined twins by Swiss Media.
The conjoined twin sisters, Lydia and Maya, weighed 2.4 pounds each and were stable for a week after birth which made the doctors decided to stay conjoined for a few months before attempting an operation. The conjoined sisters were born prematurely along with their triplet sister Kamilla.
However, after a week their condition became critical as the liver of the twins was extremely fused that resulted in excess flow of blood from one sister to the other through liver. Therefore, one of them suffered from hypertension while the other suffered from hypotension; both these conditions were life threatening for the twin sisters and the doctor took the chance to perform the surgery on youngest ever conjoined twins.
The doctors had only 1 percent chance of success of the surgery and they were prepared for death of both the infants. However, the surgery was a success and took the team to surprise.
"It was magnificent! I will remember it my entire career," reported Barbara Wildhaber of the Geneva University Hospital, who was a part of the surgery, according to Discovery News.
The babies underwent additional surgical procedure for ligation of abdominal walls and are now recovering well at a pediatric intensive care ward.
"The perfect teamwork of physicians and nursing personnel from various disciplines were the key to success here. We are very happy that the children and parents are faring so well now," Steffen Berger, head of pediatric surgery, reported in an interview to the HNGN.
The babies have reported to put on weight and have also begun breast feeding. Lydia and Maya were believed to be now one among the 200 separated conjoined twins that are living in the world today.