Conjoined twins Riddhi and Siddhi separated successfully at AIIMS Delhi

New Delhi: Doctors at AIIMS Delhi have successfully separated conjoined twins Riddhi and Siddhi who were joined from chest and upper part of the belly.

They were diagnosed prior to birth as thoraco-omphalopagus conjoined twins in the fourth month of pregnancy of Deepika Gupta in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, Dr Minu Bajpai, head of Department of Paediatric Surgery, said.

Subsequently, they were referred to AIIMS because advanced medical facilities were not available locally, he said.

They were born on July 7 last year and were in the ICU for five months. They were separated on June 8 last month following a nine-hour long surgery.

The twin girls celebrated their first birthday at the hospital.

"The anomaly was peculiar with fused rib cages, livers, partially common diaphragms and fused pericardium (outer covering of the heart). Both the hearts were very close to each other, almost touching and beating in contact. The pericardium was partially fused," Dr Prabudh Goel, Additional Professor in the Department of Paediatric Surgery, said.

The girls were operated at the age of 11 months when they were old enough to tolerate the trauma of surgery, he said.

The surgery was performed under general anesthesia in the newly-commissioned Mother and Child Block at AIIMS, said Dr Bajpai, adding it went for nearly 9 hours and coupled with pre- and post-surgical anesthesia time, it was 12 and a half hours.

"Steps in the surgery involved separation of the common abdominal and chest walls, division of liver tissue in a way that sufficient tissue remain for each baby, division of fused rib cage. It also involved separation of diaphragm, and of pericardium," Dr Bajpai said.

Surgical repair was completed for each twin separately, Dr Goel added.

Prosthetic tissues and grafts were kept available for possible use, however, these were not required since the kids had enough of native tissues to complete the repair successfully, he stated.

The children are still admitted but are now doing well, much to the relief of their parents Deepika and Ankur Gupta. Their happiness knew no bounds as they thanked the doctors profusely for saving the kids.

"We were very much worried when the surgery was being done. But thanks to god and the doctors, our girls were given a new lease of life," said Deepika. The Paediatric Surgery department has successfully separated three pairs of conjoined twins over the last three years with the case of Riddhi and Siddhi being the latest.

The first and second pair of twins were joined at the hip and shared a common spinal cord and major vessels of the lower body and legs. The first operation was done in 2020 and the second in 2021.