Top UK surgeons have performed an astonishing, gruelling operation to separate one year-old conjoined twins who were attached at the head.
The patients, Minal and Mirha, from Pakistan, are said to be recovering in the Turkish hospital where they were treated and are expected to make a full recovery.
The 14-hour procedure at the Ankara Bilkent City Hospital on 19 July was performed by Professor Noor ul Owase Jeelani, a pediatric neurosurgeon based at London‘s Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The painstaking surgery included a local team of medics and was completed in two surgical stages over a period of three months.
It was a particularly risky task given where the twins were conjoined — at the front of the head — which meant they shared vital blood vessels and brain tissue.
Minal and Mirha, from Pakistan, were successfully in a 14-hour operation that took place over three months.
Surgeons used cutting-edge virtual reality headsets to ‘rehearse’ the painstaking procedure
A team of 60 people helped carry out the operation, which took place over the course of three months
‘They’re making an excellent recovery, really wonderful,’ Professor Jeelani told Sky News.
‘They should be in a position to go back to Pakistan in a few weeks.’
The expansive team of surgeons called on the help of a special type of virtual reality to help prepare for the highly complex operation.
The surgeons rehearsed their movements using so-called Mixed Reality (MR) technology, which involves combining 3D images, such as medical scans, with the physical world.
As well as allowing the doctors to practice the surgery, the MR device also helped Prof Jeelani and his team train the medics at Ankara hospital in Turkey on what to expect.
Father Rehan Ali and mother Nazia Parveen celebrate the success of the surgery
The twins are now recovering in hospital, with Dr Jeelani saying he’s happy with the progress.
The procedure was a particularly risky task given where the twins were conjoined — at the front of the head — which meant they shared vital blood vessels and brain tissue.
Dr Jeelani previously performed surgery to separate Bernardo and Arthur Lima, who were born with fused brains. The twins underwent several operations in Rio de Janeiro, with the direction of Dr Jeelani. Pictured: the twins before the procedure with surgeon Dr Noor ul Owase Jeelani (right) and their parents Adriely and Antonia Lima (left)
Prof Jeelani is a world-leading expert in highly technical operations such as this.
In 2022, he separated three year-old Brazilian twins Bernardo and Arthur Lima during a procedure that lasted an astonishing 27 hours.
Dr Jeelani said he was ‘absolutely shattered’ after the operation, where he took only four 15-minute breaks for food and water.
But it was ‘wonderful’ to see the family feeling ‘over the moon’ afterwards, he said.
‘There were a lot of tears and hugs. It was wonderful to be able to help them on this journey.’
He added that, as with all conjoined twins after separation, the boys’ blood pressures and heart rates were ‘through the roof’ — until they were reunited four days later and touched hands.
Dr Jeelani’s work is supported by his charity Gemini Untwined, which raises funds for siblings born joined at the head.
According to Gemini figures, one in 60,000 births results in conjoined twins, and only 5 per cent of these are what’s known as craniopagus children, meaning they are fused at the head.
The life expectancy of twins who are not separated is very low.
About 40 per cent of twins fused at the head are stillborn or die during labour.