21 March 2017
A baby girl whose twin failed to develop properly and fused to her
growing body in the womb is recovering after a successful operation in
the US.
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, March 23, 2017
Risky operation removes parasitic twin from baby
A team of five surgeons at Advocate Children's Hospital in Chicago removed baby Dominique's parasitic twin.
In this extremely rare case, her parasitic twin was attached to her back
and shoulder. This made her look like she had two extra legs and feet.
Dominique travelled from Ivory Coast for the operation and will return soon.
Dr John Ruge, who led the surgery, said one of the biggest challenges had been to ensure Dominique was not left paralysed.
He said: "There was a lot of challenges to her skeletal system... we could destabilise her spine and cause her impairment."
Another of the surgeons, Frank Vicari, said: "We had an enormous amount
of imaging, specialised imaging that would allow us to identify her own
native anatomy, the anatomy of the parasitic twin and anticipate the
problems we might see... so that we could pre-plan what we intended to
do and minimise any opportunity for a surprise during surgery."
Surgeons used specialised imaging before the operation
Surgeons used specialised imaging before the operation
Dr Ruge said the operation had been vital because of the strain on
Dominique's heart and lungs of having to "provide nourishment to another
almost individual".
Also, the parasitic twin had been attached at a very important junction
between the neck and the thoracic spine and "that amount of mass and
disturbance in that area would cause her significant spinal problems as
she grew".
Dominique's foster carer in Chicago Nancy Swabb said: "She has touched our hearts. She is a member of our family.
"We know that she will go back to her loving family, and we'll keep in
touch - but this has changed our lives. She is pretty amazing."