Groundbreaking Surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital

A successful surgery to separate conjoined twins in the UK is making headlines. The British daily newspaper Daily Mail reported on the 19th (local time) that Great Ormond Street Hospital in England successfully completed surgery to separate Pakistani conjoined twins Minal and Mira.

Minal and Mira, born in Pakistan in 2023, were born with their heads joined together. The parents of the conjoined twins decided to have the surgery to separate Minal and Mira in England, where medical technology is advanced.

At Great Ormond Street Hospital in England, a team of 60 doctors gathered to plan treatment, including surgery. The medical team, who performed the first surgery on July 19, observed the progress by performing one more surgery over the next three months.

Minal and Mira, conjoined twins with joined heads, were difficult to separate because they shared blood vessels and brain tissue. The final surgery took 14 hours.

The conjoined twins’ doctor, Noor Jilani, said: “Minal and Mira have shown remarkable resilience and will be able to return home to Pakistan within a few weeks.”

Understanding Conjoined Twins

Conjoined twins often share one or more of their internal organs. This affects the survival rate and the success of separation surgery. Twins with different organs have a relatively high survival rate.