Conjoined twins successfully separated

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Two formerly conjoined twins from Guatemala were able to sleep in their own separate beds for the first time Tuesday night following 22-hours of surgery at UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital.

Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez and her sister, Maria de Jesus Quiej Alvarez were in critical but stable condition in the pediatric intensive care unit following the operation, which lasted from 7:35 a.m. PDT Monday to shortly before dawn Tuesday and involved more than 40 neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, nurses and anesthesiologists.

"It was very complicated surgery and until we get past several days, it will be life-threatening for both of them," Dr. Michael Karpf, medical director at UCLA Medical Center told reporters. "We are minute by minute, hour by hour and day to day."

The 1-year-old sisters were brought to UCLA from rural Guatemala where they were born joined at the top of the skull. Known as craniopagus twins, the girls spent their first year lying on their backs, unable to move around independently or even look each other in the eye. The condition is considered rare in the realm of conjoined twins, accounting for just 2 percent of such cases worldwide.

The most complicated portion of the delicate surgery involved sorting out which blood vessels belonged to which child. After the laborious task was completed, plastic surgeons repaired the girls' scalps and they were moved to the ICU.

A surgeon speaking to reporters in the pre-dawn darkness Tuesday said a cheer erupted in the operating room when the heavily bandaged baby girls were gently pulled apart.

"The plastic surgeons and neurosurgeons actually held the heads and held the brains when they separated them with their hands," the unidentified doctor told television station KCBS. "The moment that occurred, everyone stopped what they were doing and started cheering, screaming, laughing -- every sort of emotion you could imagine."

Most of the doctors who took part in the surgery donated their time, but UCLA said the cost of the marathon surgery and their recovery would likely be nearly $1.5 million.

Maria Teresa had to be taken back into surgery later Tuesday due to a subdural hematoma, or bleeding and clotting under the skull in the layer known as the dura, which protects the brain and keeps it nourished with blood and spinal fluid.

"Despite the complication involving Maria Teresa, we feel that the outlook for both twins is positive," declared Dr. Jorge Lazareff, the lead neurosurgeon. "We removed the buildup of blood to speed her recovery."