No evidence of brain damage to twins

18 Nov 2009, 10:30 am   -   Source: AAP/SBS
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Twins Trishna and Krishna, who were joined at the head, are showing no signs of brain damage after their marathon separation surgery, doctors say.

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Twins Trishna and Krishna, who were joined at the head, are showing no signs of brain damage after their marathon separation surgery, doctors say.

Australian surgeons at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne began the meticulous procedure at 8.30am (AEDT) on Monday.

Surgeons had separated the twins 27 hours later and they were wheeled out of the operating theatre and into intensive care at 4pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, chief surgeon Leo Donnan said said the chance of the sisters coming out of the procedure unscathed was still just 25 per cent.

"That was always a long-term prognosis and a long-term view, not just from the surgery that was performed yesterday," he said.

Risk of infection

"We have still got many unknown things that will need to be addressed related to how well they recover from the surgery and how their bodies adapt to the separation."

Associate Professor Donnan said there was currently no evidence the girls had suffered any brain damage.

But he said apart from the risk of infection, the girls' bodies needed to adjust to operating independently.

"They both will have issues with their kidneys and with other organs as well," he said.

"There is a whole lot of changes that will occur over the next couple of weeks, even into months, and we really don't know how well they will tolerate those."

 

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