Co-joined twins die before operation

The Nkhotakota co-joined twins who were scheduled for a major operation  to separate them at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) yesterday have died after they unexpectedly stopped breathing, it has been revealed.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, hospital administrator Mable Chinkhata said efforts to resuscitate the twins proved futile.

“Yes, I can confirm that the twins died this morning hours before a major operation which was to separate the two,” she said.

In a separate interview, head surgeon for the operation, Carlos Valera also confirmed the death, but could not immediately say as to what caused the conjoined twins to stop breathing.

“Actually, I was told that they have died as I was preparing for the operation, I do not know at the moment as to what had caused the death,” he said.

In an earlier interview, Valera said there was a small problem because the twins were sharing the same heart and liver.

The surgery was expected to take place on Wednesday, but failed because there was no blood available due to the scarcity of the twins’ blood group.

According to Chinkhata, the babies, who were born to a 23-year-old woman, were referred to KCH last Thursday from Nkhotakota District Hospital where they were born.

The surgery would have been a third for Valera, who performed similar operations in the country. n