World News 13-10-2003 Conjoined Twins Separated At Head who: Conjoined Egyptian toddlers Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim what: Successfully separated by following lengthy operation where: DALLAS when: Yesterday snippet: "Siamese twin boys were separated by a team of up to 60 medics last night," says The Sun. "Two-year-old Egyptian brothers Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim had been joined at the top of their heads." "The team of surgeons told a press conference it had gone as hoped," says the BBC, but they warned that the identical boys are not out of danger yet. "They will be kept in a drug-induced coma for a few days to reduce brain swelling, and face years of reconstructive surgery on the areas where their skulls had fused together." "Without the operation, they faced a possible deterioration of brain function and would probably never have been able to walk without help," says James Bone in The Times. The boys were brought to the Children`s Medical Centre in Dallas, Texas last summer "by an organisation that specialises in helping children with deformities of the head and face," explains The Independent`s Andrew Buncombe. "A team of specialists decided the boys could be separated, though the risks include possible brain damage and death. The boys` father told doctors he felt it was worth it to give them a chance at a normal life." "The surgery took place on a specially made operating table that swivels 360 degrees to allow easy access to the front and back of their heads," continues New York correspondent James Bone in The Times. Dr Jim Thomas, chief of critical care, described the operating table as "almost like a rotisserie". [... more]

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