Doctors at University Hospitals' Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, a 244 bed facility on University Hospitals of Cleveland campus, ended early an operation to begin separating 3-year-old twin girls joined at the head because one girl's brain was swollen and her blood pressure was lower than usual, a hospital official said Thursday.
Medications to reduce the swelling did not work, and doctors closed an opening to Tatiana and Anastasia Dogaru's brains without beginning to separate them Wednesday, said Nathan Levitan, the surgery team leader and chief medical officer at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
The surgery, one of several procedures planned over the coming months, lasted 11 hours.
Dogaru Conjoined Twins
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The medical team were to conduct tests, including an MRI, to determine the cause of the swelling, then decide whether they could attempt the procedure again it was reported.
Anastasia and Tatiana were born on January 13, 2004 by Caesarean section, six weeks premature, in a hospital just outside Rome, Italy.
The parents, Alin and Claudia Dogaru, both 31, have said they believe the surgeries are the girls' best hope.
Upon arriving in the US 2 1/2 years ago at Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas, the hospitals main goal was to get the girls healthy enough that they could survive the separation surgery.
Tatiana needed immediate heart surgery or she would have died within months. She also requires braces to walk because her legs are so weak.
But the biggest problem for the two is that Anastasia was born without kidneys. Even though Tatiana is the weaker of the twins, her kidneys support them both, and unfortunately, they are showing signs of weakening. When Anastasia drinks, Tatiana pees for her.
If the surgery is a success, Anastasia will have to wait at least six months before she can be transplanted with a kidney from her mother. She'll live on dialysis until then.
Conjoined Twins
Tatiana and Anastasia Dogaru Conjoined Twins
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Doctors at University Hospitals' Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, a 244 bed facility on University Hospitals of Cleveland campus, ended early an operation to begin separating 3-year-old twin girls joined at the head because one girl's brain was swollen and her blood pressure was lower than usual, a hospital official said Thursday.
Medications to reduce the swelling did not work, and doctors closed an opening to Tatiana and Anastasia Dogaru's brains without beginning to separate them Wednesday, said Nathan Levitan, the surgery team leader and chief medical officer at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
The surgery, one of several procedures planned over the coming months, lasted 11 hours.
More Conjoined Twin Stories!
Abigail and Brittany Hensel... More
Alexandra and Sydney Starks... More
Elisa and Mary Chulkhurst... More
Eng And Chang Bunker... More
Kendra and Maliyah Herrin... More
Lakshmi Tatma... More
Madysen and Abygail Fitterer... More
Panwad and Pantawan Tiyenjai... More
Semi-identical Twins . . . More
The medical team were to conduct tests, including an MRI, to determine the cause of the swelling, then decide whether they could attempt the procedure again it was reported.
Anastasia and Tatiana were born on January 13, 2004 by Caesarean section, six weeks premature, in a hospital just outside Rome, Italy.
The parents, Alin and Claudia Dogaru, both 31, have said they believe the surgeries are the girls' best hope.
Upon arriving in the US 2 1/2 years ago at Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas, the hospitals main goal was to get the girls healthy enough that they could survive the separation surgery.
Tatiana needed immediate heart surgery or she would have died within months. She also requires braces to walk because her legs are so weak.
But the biggest problem for the two is that Anastasia was born without kidneys. Even though Tatiana is the weaker of the twins, her kidneys support them both, and unfortunately, they are showing signs of weakening. When Anastasia drinks, Tatiana pees for her.
If the surgery is a success, Anastasia will have to wait at least six months before she can be transplanted with a kidney from her mother. She'll live on dialysis until then.
