Sudanese Siamese twins due back home after operation in UAE

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec 15, 2004 (PANA) — Two-year-old Sudanese conjoined twins
who were successfully separated last month in a 15-hour operation
at the Abu Dhabi Al Mafraq Hospital in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) are to be released Friday to return to Sudan, the local
press reported in Khartoum.

Siamese twins, Hassan and Hussain, who presented one of the
rarest cases in medical history were conjoined at the buttocks
and spinal cord and shared the same penis and anus.

Some 27 doctors and nurses took part in the operation, including
anaesthesiologists and paediatric doctors from the United Kingdom
and Canada.

“This was one of the most complicated cases that we have come across
at Al Mafraq Hospital and we are proud to see the twins healthy and
walking. Due to the difficulty of the case, an international team was
put together to operate on the twins and intensive preparation was
carried out several months before the surgery,” the report quoted
Khalifa Al Khaili, the hospital director as saying.

Doctors in the UAE learnt about the twins’ case when they visited a
hospital in Sudan for volunteer work.

The boys and their parents were later flown to the UAE at the behest
of Shaikh Mohammad Bin ZayedAl Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, who is
financing the entire procedure.

The twins’ mother, Sara, and father, Ahmad Mohammad Ali, have
expressed happiness at the success of the operation.

“I would have never imagined the day when I would see Hassan and
Hussain walking separately,” Sara was quoted as saying.