After a ‘historic’ 11-hour surgery, a pair of twin baby girls who were conjoined at the stomach and liver were surgically separated in Texas.
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In October, AmieLynn Rose and JamieLynn Rae Finley were born prematurely at Texas Health Harris Methodist Medical Center and joined at the stomach and liver. Their surgery was the first ever at the Cook Children’s Medical Center, according to the Daily Mail, and they were successfully separated on Monday. Dr. Jose Iglesias performed the groundbreaking surgery for the first time with a team of 25 medics that included six surgeons, three anesthesiologists, and sixteen other medical professionals. Weeks before the surgery, the team created prosthetic versions of the twins to test how the operation would go.
JamieLynn Rae and AmieLynn Rose, 16-week-old sisters who were born under unusually challenging circumstances, made history Monday after becoming the first conjoined twins ever to be separated at Cook Children’s following a successful 11-hour surgery. https://t.co/lmrJaadvW8
— Cook Children’s (@CookChildrens) January 25, 2023
They also painted one of the twins’ toes purple and the other green so that medics can wear matching scrubs during the procedure. According to Dr. Iglesias, the surgery will help the girls have better opportunities in life by improving their health.
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“The separation surgery will give AmieLynn and JamieLynn better opportunities to improve their health and development, and to grow as the unique, individual little girls that they have been since birth, regardless of their physical connection as conjoined twins.”
It’s the first such successful surgery at the children’s medical center. Conjoined twins are rare, and surviving separation surgery — which requires a whole team of medical professionals that span several specialties — is even rarer
— Marin Wolf (@maringwolf) January 25, 2023
The girls are omphalopagus twins, which means they were joined at the abdomen and share one or more internal organs. Conjoined twins are a rare occasion as it occurs in one to 200,000 live births. The outlet also noted that delayed separation also increases their survival as it gives them more time to develop and become more stable.
Neonatologist Dr. Mary Frances Lynch said the focus of the twins’ treatment has now shifted toward recovery. “I hope that you can see that they’re not just patients to us. We really love your girls,” Lynch said addressing parents James and Amanda.
— Marin Wolf (@maringwolf) January 25, 2023
Here are the doctors at @CookChildrens who performed the separation of Amie and Jamie, led by Dr. José Iglesias, medical director of pediatric surgery. pic.twitter.com/CDttHwqwuc
— Andrew M. Greenstein (@KRLDAndrewG) January 25, 2023
The medical team was praised online for their hard work and dedication to improve the lives of the twin baby girls.
Miraculous 🙏 Kudos to the amazing medical team!
“The Cook Children’s Medical Center team spent five months pre-birth and three-months post-birth studying the girls’ anatomy and sunning through multiple simulations of the separation surgery.” https://t.co/hAA4TEIngG
— Susan F 🇺🇸 (@SMF904) January 27, 2023