No immediate need to separate conjoined twins
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A set of conjoined twin girls born in southwestern China with a single body and two heads may not need immediate separation surgery as long as they can grow in good health, doctors said Wednesday.
The girls, weighing 4 kilograms, have gone through a series of physical check-ups in Chongqing's Xinqiao Hospital, a medical institute affiliated with the People's Liberation Army that has successfully separated four pairs of conjoined twins to date.
Doctors say the twins show symptoms of lung infection, jaundice and other possible illnesses that cannot be confirmed until the girls are strong enough for X-ray check-ups.
The twin girls share a gall bladder, spleen, pelvis and reproductive system but have separate spines, esophagi, stomachs, kidneys, and respiratory systems. Though the conjoined girls have two hearts, physical tests show that one is in an abnormal shape.
Doctors say their priority is keeping the girls alive. The girls are staying in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit with 24-hour care.
The girls were born to a rural couple at a hospital in Suining, a city in Sichuan Province, on May 5 and were transferred on Monday to Xinqiao Hospital.
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