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Siamese Twin Dies After Surgery in Australia
An emergency operation to separate Siamese twins failed to save the life of the weaker girl, who had heart trouble and other complications, doctors in Australia said Sunday.
Bethany Nolan died during surgery Saturday night at Brisbane's Royal Children's Hospital, officials said. Her sister, Alyssa, was in critical condition Sunday after the operation, they said.
The girls were the second set of Siamese twins joined at the head to be born at the same hospital in the past year �� a highly unusual coincidence.
Siamese twins occur in about one in every 150,000 to 200,000 births, but those joined at the head are estimated to occur only once in every five million births.
The Nolan twins were born May 3. Doctors had planned to wait up to a year before attempting to separate them, but were forced to operate after Bethany suffered cardiac failure Friday.
Professor Alan Isles, who oversaw the operation, said the next 14 days would be critical for Alyssa, who has only one kidney and faces surgery to graft bone to her skull.
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