Twin Boys Stable As Separation Continues

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031012/ap_on_he_me/egyptian_twins_26

By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press Writer

DALLAS - The biggest challenge facing pediatric neurosurgeons dividing 2-year-old Egyptian twins joined at the head is separating the intricate connection of blood vessels in their brains.


Doctors have spent more than a year planning the surgery to separate Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim. The operation is expected to take a team of 50 to 60 medical personnel anywhere from 18 to 90 hours to finish. As of late Saturday, the twins were listed in stable condition and the operation was continuing, the hospital said.


"This is the part of the procedure that carries the most inherent risks," Dr. Jim Thomas, chief of critical care medicine at Children's Medical Center Dallas, said Saturday, the first day of the complicated separation surgery.


"This is where they're going to get into the vascular division," Thomas said. "This is where they're going to begin to expose the blood vessels by removing the bony plate and to begin the process of dividing the venous system that joins Ahmed and Mohamed."

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I saw a clip of the twins on CNN...it was kinda spooky cuz one of the kids was chewing on some kind of toy, while the other one, who didn't have anything near his mouth, was working his lips like he was sucking on the toy that his brother was. The kid looked like he already had severe neurological problems (not surprising) in any case just by the way that he was looking around, and I wonder how much of it is their two brains getting their wires crossed.
Anyway, it just kind of gave me the creeps. Dunno why. I'm probably a horrible person.
But, I do wish the best of luck to the surgeons, the kids and their families. It sounds like they're coming into the really difficult part of the surgery.

I read an extensive article about them and they are amazing. For example, they are little 2 year old cohorts in crime - here's an excerpt from a major Dallas Morning News article:

~They learned to be accomplices in mischief - one yanking the table cloth, the other snatching the dish of KitKats (Ahmed doesn't like chocolate - he participates for the mere thrill of the crime".~

For identitcal twins, the boys have radically different personalities. For example, if Ahmed awakes first, he will lay quietly, studying his toes, until Mohamed wakes up. But if Mohammed wakes up first, he will pummel the mattress and smack Ahmed's head because he wants to get moving immediately.

I really hope this operations is successful.

...I guess I was just wondering if those shared blood vessels could mix up the brain's signals. Are there neurotransmitters in the blood? I'm thinking if one brother is chewing on something, it might stimulate the corresponding part of that brother's brain, and put the corresponding neurotransmitter into the bloodstream, which would then go over to the other brother's brain and prod him into working his mouth in a similar way. I know baby's basically have oral fixations wired into their brains because they need to breast feed....would seem it should be easy enough to stimulate that behavior in a baby.
I dunno, I don't pretend to be an expert. Just throwing it out there. :)

what would happen. Have you heard? They are separate now and things appear to be going well. :D

they were connected at the chest and one had a very underdeveloped heart. They knew their choice was to let them both continue in a weakened condition joined together or give the stronger a chance at a normal life. They did have the surgery knowing the one girl would die almost instantly. It was very sad.

I pray these little boys do well and thrive.