Conjoined twins successfully separated in 16-hour operation

Published on Tuesday 8 August 2006 13:10

DOCTORS in the US have successfully separated four-year-old conjoined twins born with just one kidney and one set of legs.

Doctors in Salt Lake City, Utah, said it was the first known surgical attempt to separate twins with a shared kidney.

The parents burst into tears when doctors announced that the separation had been completed last night after 16 hours of surgery.

A few minutes after, one of the girls - Kendra Herrin - was moved to a separate operating room.

"It's just a new beginning - and the end of a really good one," father Jake Herrin said.

Kendra and Maliyah Herrin were brought into the operating room at 7.15am yesterday. The entire operation was expected to last up to 24 hours, during which surgeons planned to give each girl one leg and Kendra the kidney. Maliyah will be put on dialysis for three to six months until she is strong enough for a transplant of a kidney from her mother, Erin.

Surgeons also divided the girls' single liver and separated their intestines.

The girls were born locked in an embrace, practically face to face.