Baby who had second head removed goes home

A 14-month-old girl has been discharged from an Egyptian hospital more than two months after an operation that removed a second head sharing a blood vessel with her own brain, her doctors said today.

Manar Maged was born on March 30, 2004, with a rare birth defect that occurs when an embryo begins to split into identical twins but fails to complete the process, leaving an undeveloped conjoined twin in the womb.

Manar also has a healthy twin sister, Noora.

“God has blessed us, this is a day of happiness for us, the girl is very well,” said Dr. Naseif Hefnawi, director of Benha Neonatal Hospital near Cairo.

“All the doctors here will be watching her every day,” Hefnawi said.

There were ten previous cases like Manar’s throughout the world when she underwent surgery on Feb. 19, and Manar was the only one to have survived the procedure, Hefnawi said.

“The important thing is, the girl is improving day by day, her eyes are focussing more, anything she needs, day or night, will be available,” Hefnawi said.

Manar lay asleep in her mother’s arms as the hospital’s doctors applauded the news.

“We saw some really tough times, the most dangerous time for Manar was when she emerged from the operation, she was in a really critical condition,” said Dr. Abla Alfi, one of the surgeons who took part in her operation.

Hefnawi said the 14-hour surgery, carried out in the Nile Delta town of Benha, some 25 miles north of Cairo, was the first of its kind in the Middle East.

During surgery, Manar bled extensively because of the major blood vessel that had to be severed and there were complications the day after the surgery, including unstable blood pressure, hypothermia, poor liver function and blood not coagulating.

Afterward Manar’s temperature soared and her breathing was irregular, as more pressure gathered on her brain and she lost a lot of blood, Hefnawi said.

But the girl recovered.

“God was good to us to be able to return Manar in this shape to her family,” Alfi said.