Doctors begin to separate Filipino twins

Doctors in New York have successfully completed the first of at least three operations on 18-month-old Siamese twins from the Philippines.

Carl and Clarence Aguirre are joined at the top of their heads and share a major vein that drains blood from the brain to the heart. Yesterday’s operation was to stretch the twins’ skin so there would be enough to cover their heads when they were separated.

“We were mainly looking at crossover between the blood vessels,” said Dr James Goodrich, who led a team of 20 in the five-and-a-half-hour operation. “We did not find much, and that’s a very good sign. … There were no surprises.”

It was the first of at least three planned operations over the next few months designed to climax with the boys’ separation.

:: Doctors in Dallas, Texas, said a two-year-old Egyptian boy sat upright for the first time – eight days after being separated from his twin brother.

Mohamed Ibrahim, now breathing on his own, was the more active and alert twin, said Dr James Thomas, chief of critical care services at Children’s Medical Centre Dallas.

His brother Ahmed was due to be taken off his ventilator today. Both have shown what doctors called ”dramatic improvement” since their 34-hour surgery.