BUDAPEST, July 18 (Xinhua) -- A pair of head-conjoined Bangladeshi twins are well and their condition is "optimal" after the completion of a 6-month-long of their separation surgery series in Hungary, according to the foundation organizing the operation here on Thursday.
The twins will undergo final separation at the end of July or beginning of August in Daka, the capital of Bangladesh, Action for Defenceless People Foundation informed here in a statement.
The twins were 2.5 years old when they arrived in Hungary on Jan. 5, 2019 with their family. Following the acclimatization and some examinations to prepare for the final separation, a special Hungarian-designed expander implant system was inserted to expand the scalp and soft tissue under the leadership of plastic surgeon Dr. Gergely Pataki.
The plastic surgery phase has been the second in the series of interventions that the twins had to undergo in order to be separated: it consisted of the implantation of special expanders to gain skin and soft tissues to cover the large wound after the final separation. The interventions that totaled some 40 minor interventions started on Jan. 25, 2019 in Budapest. It consisted of 1-2 interventions per week (filling of expander implants and change of bandages).
"The first intervention was a two-step separation of the large veins of the brains by an innovative endovascular method that means approaching the area from the inside, from the deep femoral vein, led by the Hungarian Dr. Istvan Hudak, they were performed on Feb. 28 and Aug. 19, 2018, in Dhaka," the statement recalled.
The family flies to Bangladesh with our team leader doctors. The third phase - led by Dr. Andras Csokay, famous Hungarian neurosurgeon - is the final separation of the brain and skulls during the final separation in the summer of 2019, and the replacement and covering of the underdeveloped parts with the tissues obtained through the tissue expansion process.
Special 3D modeling technology has also been used for design and implementation. The mission team of Action for Defenceless People Foundation consists of 35 devoted people: 19 doctors and 16 scrub nurses, assistants and documentation staff. This intervention is due at the end of July or the beginning of August in Dhaka,
Finally, a secondary plastic-reconstructive optimization interventions will take place following the final separation surgery, for example the further reconstruction of the skull if necessary: these are to take place in late 2019 and/or 2020. Skull rebuilding may be delayed as long as 4-5 months after the final separation, according to the foundation.
