Hyderabad, January 31: The unending plight of conjoined twins Veena-Vani, who are lodged at the Neeloufer Children’s hospital in the city, may well be over, thanks to the efforts of the hospital.
A team of overseas doctors led by Dr. David of the US visited the hospital on Thursday and held discussions with the hospital authorities over the issue of surgery to separate the twins. The team consisted of five doctors. Dr. David has successfully performed four such surgeries (Craniopagus).
Speaking to Postnoon, head of the pediatric surgery Dr. A Narendra Kumar said he was hopeful the woes of the twins might come to an end. Dr. David, said Dr. Kumar, would get back with a detailed power- point presentation to undertake the operation. “Yes, Dr.David had held discussions with us and examined the conjoined twins. After the examination, he said that he would revert to us with a detailed report. We are waiting for the report” Dr.Kumar said. Once the hospital gets the full report, the State government would be approached for approval.
According to Dr. Kumar, the operation proposed by Dr. David requires a period of one year as the surgery will be performed in a stage by stage manner. He said that the surgery consists of a process in which blood vessels, which are joined together in the conjoined twins, are clipped and multiple alternate channels of blood vessels are encouraged to develop by providing enough time. This method has the least residual neurological defects in children, which has been a common cause of concern for medical fraternity since the last so many years. Dr. Kumar has also said that the surgery can only be performed in foreign country as India does not have required infrastructure to undertake it.
——Agencies