Conjoined twins

[Madam Captain 0]

What are your opinions about the separation of conjoined twins?? I have been very interested in this topic for a few years now and I have found that the issues regarding surgical separation of conjoined twins can be quite contraversial. I think twins that are joined should be separated, if there is a reasonable chance of survival for one or both twins. I do not, however, agree with the separation of twins when it means one has to die to let the other one survive.

 

I find the whole topic very fascinating. What does everyone else think about conjoined twins??

 

Madam Captain out!!

[Nemesis 0]

I think its really up to the parents, its a too difficult stituation to call if you're not in it.

[Indy 8]

It has to be an agonizing decision for the parents, whatever the possible outcome. But leaving them conjoined, they have no hope for a normal life, and from what I understand, usually one of them thrives at the expense of the other one. I would think it would have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, considering all the options and being aware of all the risks.

[Jeanway 0]

Obviously, conjoined twins didn't separate at the crucial stage of mitosis, at which time they would develope into two distinct daughter cells in the womb. I't a mistake, an error, which if can be rectified by medical intervention, should be. If at all possible both are viable but in some cases they are not. We have to accept this tragic but neccessay part of it. Any parent would anguish over this prospect, it's a difficult situation to be in, playing God.

[t'mir 0]

It's tough to say. It's probably a diff. situation from case to case.

 

I heard that one of the the twins who were joined at the head and separated a few months ago has meningitis, now.

[Madam Captain 0]

Obviously, conjoined twins didn't separate at the crucial stage of  mitosis, at which time they would develope into two distinct daughter cells in the womb.  I't a mistake, an error, which if can be rectified by medical intervention, should be. If at all possible both are viable but in some cases they are not. We have to accept this tragic but neccessay part of it.  Any parent would anguish over this prospect, it's a difficult situation to be in, playing God.

Conjoined twins occur when a single egg is fertilised but that egg doesn't divide properly into two eggs, therefore they are always identical. There are several types of conjoined twins:

 

Craniopagus: joined at the head (rare form, occurs in only 2% of all conjoined twin cases)

Pygopagus: joined at the back and buttocks (occurring in 20% of all cases)

Thoraopagus: joined at the chest, often sharing a heart (the most common form occurring between 35-40% of all cases)

Ishiopagus: joined at the coccyx (the lowest part of the backbone, occurs in about 6% of all cases)

Omphalopagus: joined from the waist to the lower breastbone (occurs in 34% of all cases)

Dicephalus: One body with two separate heads and necks (extremely rare form, only a few documented cases of this type have occurred)

Dicphalus tetrabrachius dipus:Conjoined twins with two heads, four arms and two legs. This is the rarest form of conjoinment and up until about 1 year ago, there was only one living set in the world (Masha and Dasha of Russia)

 

Madam Captain out!!

[Madam Captain 0]

Obviously, conjoined twins didn't separate at the crucial stage of  mitosis, at which time they would develope into two distinct daughter cells in the womb.  I't a mistake, an error, which if can be rectified by medical intervention, should be. If at all possible both are viable but in some cases they are not. We have to accept this tragic but neccessay part of it.  Any parent would anguish over this prospect, it's a difficult situation to be in, playing God.

Separation of conjoined twins is far more successful these days than twenty or thirty years ago. Of course, it still depends on how the twins are conjoined and the severity of their conjoinment. Obviously twins joined at the head (craniopagus) pose more challenges than other types, such as twins joined at the buttocks (pygopagus). Then there are those that can't be separated. Thoraocapagus conjoined twins usually share a heart and quite often a liver too. In some cases, they will also share intestines and other organs so its almost impossible to separate these types. There was a case of thoraocapagus twins a few years ago that shared a heart and it was decided that the stronger twin would be sacrified for the weaker one. It was a very contraversial issue and the parents had to get a court order to allow the surgery to take place. The parents were advised not to go ahead with the surgery because there was a 95% chance that the stronger twin would die aswell. The surgery was performed and as expected one twin died (because the heart was given to the other twin). The other twin defied the odds and survived the surgery. The doctors were amazed and they even gave her a 90% chance of going home and living a long, healthy life. Unfortunately, she never left the hospital and died a few months later.

 

Many separation surgeries are still unsuccessful today, often resulting in the death of one or both twins. There also seems to be more conjoined twins born these days than there were five or ten years ago.

 

Madam Captain out!!

[Madam Captain 0]

I think its really up to the parents, its a too difficult stituation to call if you're not in it.

I agree with your statement but its still an interesting topic to discuss, particularly because I find conjoined twins to be very fascinating. If you are interested in some 'light reading' there is a really great site about conjoined twins that I often visit and it even has a message board. I like going to the message board because the moderator always posts news stories about the latest conjoined twins and separating surgeries.

 

Madam Captain out!!