US surgeons separate Nigerian conjoined twins

A team of expert paediatric surgeons and specialists at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital has separated 12-monthold ischiopagus (fused together at the lower half of the body) conjoined twin girls, Miracle and Testimony Ayeni. Conjoined twins occur once in 200,000 live births, with six per cent of those being ischiopagus.

The complex, high-risk surgery resulted in complete separation after an 18-hour procedure on November 7/8. Both girls are recovering at Le Bonheur Children’s. While they will require further surgeries, the hospital and family are optimistic about their long-term prognosis. Miracle and Testimony were born on November 16, 2015, in Enugu State, Nigeria.

In January 2016, Nigerian-based Linking Hands Foundation (LHF) was notified of their medical situation. LHF is a registered organisation with a focus on children’s education, health and values.

Upon learning of the twins’ condition, LHF committed to solicit support toward their medical care. Through its research, LHF referred the Ayeni family to Le Bonheur where they have spent the past five months as surgeons prepared for surgery.

Efe Farinre, founder of Linking Hands Foundation said: “We are thankful for our connection to Le Bonheur on behalf of the Ayeni twins as part of our Every- Child-Counts Initiative.

While caring for Miracle and Testimony, Le Bonheur has consistently demonstrated that truly, they are a hospital where every child matters.”

Miracle and Testimony’s multi-disciplinary team consists paediatric experts from specialties including anaesthesia, child life, critical care, paediatric surgery, orthopaedics, nursing, plastic surgery, radiology, rehabilitation therapy, social work, spiritual care and urology.