Kandhamal conjoined twins to head for AIIMS under Government care

The State Government on Thursday announced to facilitate treatment of the conjoined twins of Kandhamal.
Kandhamal conjoined twins to head for AIIMS under Government care

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Thursday announced to facilitate treatment of the conjoined twins of Kandhamal. Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena said the twins would be sent to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi for further check-up and follow-up action would be taken as per the opinions of experts.

“Kandhamal Collector Brundha D has been asked to make arrangements to shift the twins to AIIMS. The Government will bear the cost. Let the doctors at the super speciality hospital check their health condition and suggest if a surgery can be performed,” he said.

As the Kandhamal twins are craniopagus (fused at the cranium), a brain imaging is necessary to ascertain whether they share the skull or brain, besides other organs like kidney and liver.

While conjoined twins, who are genetically identical and share same sex, are uncommon, occurring once in about every 2,00,000 births, craniopagus twins are the rarest form, accounting for about two per cent.
According to health experts, a surgery can be successful if the twins share only skull and chances are very remote if they share brain. The separation surgery is also very risky. The complexity of the surgery depends on where the heads are joined and how much they are fused, they said.

Meanwhile, the district administration has admitted the children of Bhuan and Puspanjali Kanhar of Melupada village under Phiringia block to the District Headquarters Hospital, Phulbani on Thursday.
Earlier, Bhuan had admitted his twins to Shishu Bhavan where doctors had advised him to consult doctors at AIIMS. He, however, could not take them to New Delhi due to poor financial condition.

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