Australian surgeons separate conjoined twins

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BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters) -- Australian surgeons have successfully completed a rare operation to separate conjoined twins Tay-lah and Monique Armstrong who were joined upside-down at the back of the head, health officials said Wednesday.

The Queensland state health department issued a brief statement saying the babies had been "successfully separated" on Tuesday at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane.

"Both are in a critical but stable condition," it said.

The twins' mother Pacquita Armstrong and father Shane Conyard are reported to have signed an exclusive television and magazine deal and have instructed the hospital not to comment on the operation which is being claimed as a world first.

However, a hospital spokeswoman told Reuters a news conference would be held on Thursday to provide further details.

Local media had reported a medical team of 20 had planned to operate for some 23 hours to separate the twins.

The Courier-Mail newspaper said the girls were born seven weeks premature on April 3 in Brisbane.

The twins were joined upside-down at the back of their heads by a small piece of bone and shared major blood vessels but had separate brains, the newspaper said.

"I didn't even notice they were joined," Armstrong told the Seven television network in a recent interview.

"I just looked at two beautiful baby girls."

Specialists have spent the last six months building up the twins' immune systems and blood volumes to cope with the surgery.

Surgeons had been reported as saying there was a 70 percent chance that one twin would not survive the operation.

The Australian national newspaper said Tay-lah was the weaker twin, and had been suffering slight brain damage and renal failure. She had already undergone surgery at the hospital to correct a narrowing of the main heart artery, it said.

There have been only 40 attempts worldwide to separate conjoined twins joined at the head, with at least one twin dying in 30 cases, the newspaper said.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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