Surgeons clear major hurdle in twins op

NEUROSURGEONS working to separate Iranian twin sisters joined at the head completed one of the most dangerous steps yesterday by re-routing a shared vein as thick as a finger that helped blood flow through their brains, a hospital official said.

An international team of five neurosurgeons successfully attached a new vein and began separating 29-year-old Ladan and Laleh Bijani's brains in the unprecedented operation expected to last two to four days, said an official at the Raffles Hospital in Singapore.

Tackling the shared vein was considered the biggest obstacle in the surgery. Other than sharing the vein, the women's brains are not joined although they touch inside their skulls. Their bodies are otherwise distinct.