SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Wednesday 7.00pm.
A PAIR of Tanzanian Siamese twins, joined in an extremely rare manner, arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday where they will be separated at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.
The twins, eight-month-old girls named only as Helen and Agnes, are joined at the pelvis. The twins, however, are facing away from each other. In an exclusive interview with ZA*NOW on Wednesday night, Professor Heinz Rode, who will oversee the operation to separate the twins, said that it is the first time in the hospital’s history that it has seen such a rare join.
The hospital is widely regarded as a leading specialist in the separation of Siamese twins, after treating 27 sets of twins between 1964 and 1998. “The girls’ junction, called a pyopagus, is the rarest form of join to be found,” Rode said.
The Tanzanian government has sent the girls for treatment from the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam. Rode said the hospital is preparing to go ahead with the separation “soon”.
Early investigations done by the Red Cross hospital indicate that the twin share some of their pelvic bones as well as a vagina. There is an indication that they may share a portion of the lower spinal cord as well, he said. Fortunately, each girl has a pair of legs.
Asked on whether eight-months is an advanced age to seek separation, Rode said that the girls’ separation was not extremely urgent as their lives have not been threatened by their condition. “They have been well cared for in the hospital in Dar es Salaam since their birth,” he said. Although the one girl has pneumonia, Rode said he gives them a 100% chance of survival.
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