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Doctors separate twins joined at head

Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, have successfully separated twin baby girls who were joined at the head in a case that has made medical history.

Rital and Ritag Gaboura, are 11 months old Conjoined Sudanese twins. Conjoined twins are extremely rare, with Craniopagus (head-to-head) twins even rarer, where only one in 10 million survive to infancy.

One of the twins Ritag supplied half of her sister's brain with blood, while draining most of it back to her own heart which meant her body was doing most of the work for both of them, placing a strain on her heart.

The sisters' parents approached the charity Facing The World for funding. The charity was able to organise surgeons at the children's hospital to operate for free on the girls. The twins underwent four operations over the year and were finally separated on August 15. Remarkably the twins were back on the general ward within days interacting and playing as before.

Lead surgeon and expert David Dunaway, who led the operation stated the operations had presented huge challenges. Incidences of surviving twins with this condition are extremely rare. The task presented innumerable challenges and all staff were aware of our responsibilities to the family and these two little girls.

Although Rital and Ritag's recovery is going well, their young age means it is not known if they will suffer from lasting neurological problems.

Facing The World charity can be contacted here.

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