Kenyatta Hospital successfully separates 4-month-old siamese twins

The Kenyatta National Hospital on Sunday successfully separated a set of four-month-old conjoined twin brothers from Bungoma County.

Speaking to the media on Monday, the hospital's consultant pediatric surgeon Dr Joel Lesann said the babies were joined at the chest and abdomen.

This meant that they required assistance to breath.

"They were sharing one liver and in the chest, although each had a heart, they were enclosed in one chamber," he said.

"One of the twins had multiple nodes in the heart and the other had large, abnormal blood vessels emerging from the heart."

Lesann explained that the joining in the abdomen meant that the boys shared both muscles and skin.

"Further analysis by the cardiology team showed that one of the kids have pulmonary hypertension, in other words, a lot of blood was flowing through their lungs," he added.

He said they were however able to manage the blood pressure, adding that the condition meant they expedited surgery. 

Lesann added that due to the nature of the joining, the babies were admitted to the High Dependency Unit upon arrival.

He said the procedure for such cases includes examining the patients and carrying out thorough investigations to understand how they were co-joined.

This helps the surgeons and pediatrics set up a separation chart.

"When the kids arrived here first, they were received by our neonatology unit, who had to stabilise and take care of the babies before the investigation commenced," he said.

The surgeon said the investigation showed that they needed help to breathe, leading to their admission to the HDU.

The hospital's CEO Dr Evanson Kamuri said the twins are doing well and in recovery.

"We are happy that so far the conjoined twins are safe. They are in the Intensive Care Unit. We thank God," he said.

He lauded the team that took part in the procedure and urged parents with conjoined twins to seek the hospital's assistance.