Conjoined Twin Dies Following Separation Surgery

A hospital official confirmed Monday morning that one of the 10-month old conjoined twins who were separated last week has died. The 13-hour surgery, which was unusually complex, had been reported on widely in the media since the girls were born last fall. The twins were born weighing a total of only 10 pounds, and before surgery they weighed 16 pounds. Both suffered from congenital heart disease and shared a liver, spleen, gall bladder, and digestive tract.

Doctors at Fudan University Children’s Hospital in Shanghai said they were forced to operate because the girls had stopped gaining weight. The hospital, which has a global reputation for having performed numerous successful separation surgeries, began to plan the girls’ surgery immediately after they were born. Following the surgery doctors had said their success was a miracle, but they cautioned that the girls’ health was precarious. Although they were relatively stable after surgery, doctors said they were at risk for organ failure and would need several more operations.

The twins’ deformity was extremely rare and the surgery was the first of its kind. The president of the children’s hospital, Gui Yonghao, was quoted as saying, "It would have been a miracle for one child to survive and a challenge for the limits of medicine for both to survive. We made it." But the weaker of the twins, Hu Jingxuan, died Monday after her condition had deteriorated over the weekend. Her sister Chen Jingni, who was the stronger of the two following surgery, is in stable condition.

A business group from the twins’ hometown of Taizhou had raised more than $25,000 to help pay for their treatment.