Bengaluru doctors successfully separate conjoined twins who shared heart

Bengaluru, May 29: A team of doctors at Narayana Health City in Bangalore performed the World's first thoracopagus separation surgery on Mauritian conjoined twins with a shared heart.

Baby Clean Papillon is perhaps the 3rd Miracle baby in the world with a shared heart, to have been successfully saved through Thoracopagus twins separation surgery.

Born in Mauritius to an lan Papillon and wife, Baby Clean Papillon was one of the thoracopagus twins who had a shared heart with her sister instead of being joined from the neck to the upper abdomen, as in other similar cases. Hence, they had seven chambers together instead of four in each.

As the twins shared a heart and were not in a position to even breathe, they were supported by hand pumps for oxygen through the journey.

The complexity of the case made many European and Asian hospitals to turn down the case when reached out by the Mauritian health department. It was then that Narayana Health City stepped in to take the challenge, given their vast experience in handling complex pediatric cases.

As soon as they arrived, the multi-disciplinary/ team under the aegis of Dr. Ashley D'Cruz, Director & Sr. Consultant Pediatric Surgeon & Urologist, Dr Sanj'ay Rao, Sr consultant - Paediatric Surgery and Organ Transplant, Dr. Shreesha Shankar Maiya, Consultant - Paediatric Cardiology and electrophysiology, Dr. Riyan Shetty, Consultant Critical Care Services & Head of Extracorporeal Life Support, Dr Ganesh Sambandamoorthy, Consultant - Anaesthesia & Critical Care and Dr. Harini Sreedharan, Consultant Neonatology, did a thorough examination of the babies.

With the parents consent the team of doctors started the treatment. The doctors put them on intensive care. The intensive care team under the leadership of Dr. Riyan Shetty and Dr. Ganesh Sambandamoorthy ensured the babies were stabilized faster.

Once they were stabilized, PDA stenting was performed to improve the condition of the heart. Elaborating about PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) stenting.

Further, their heart was fused and the chambers were merged making their case a complex and unsuitable one for any surgical treatment. PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) stenting is an interventional procedure wherein a stent is placed in the PDA and the blood flow from the heart is maintained.

Baby Clean Papillon has responded well to the intervention and is in a position to return to her homeland. Equipped with a team of multi disciplinary experts Narayana Health City has become one of the most sought after hospital to treat conjoined twins.