One conjoined twin talks after separation surgery

Trishna is already doing well enough that she could leave intensive care, said the director of neurosurgery at Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.

November 19, 2009 11:30 am | Updated November 17, 2021 06:38 am IST - MELBOURNE

Trishna, a conjoined twin separated at the head at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. File Photo: AP

Trishna, a conjoined twin separated at the head at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. File Photo: AP

A Bangladeshi toddler separated this week from her conjoined twin sister was talking and behaving normally Thursday after waking from a medically induced coma, the head of the surgery team said.

Trishna is already doing well enough that she could leave intensive care, said Wirginia Maixner, director of neurosurgery at Royal Children’s Hospital.

“She looks brilliant, she is talking, she is being Trishna, she is behaving the way she always has,” Maixner told reporters. “She’s phenomenally good.”

Her sister, Krishna, will be slowly brought out of the coma later Thursday, Maixner said. Krishna will have a longer period of adjustment as the separation brought more changes to her body and brain’s blood circulation.

Maixner said they hoped to have an indication Thursday night or early Friday about how Krishna’s brain was responding. MRI scans Wednesday showed no signs of brain injury.

Maixner said there may be minor changes to the girls from where their brains were separated but that overall the brains looked fantastic.

“I can tell you that it’s not until I saw that scan that I had my first breath of relief,” she said, revealing she did a short “chicken dance” when she saw the positive images. “The scans look great. I believe we’ve brought them through safely. I believe that the girls will come out really, really good.”

The twins, who turn 3 next month, had been joined at the top of their heads and shared brain tissue and blood vessels. They were separated Tuesday after 25 hours of delicate surgery, and then underwent an additional six hours of reconstructive work.

Doctors had earlier said there was a 50—50 chance that one of the girls could suffer brain damage from the complicated separation.

An aid worker first saw Trishna and Krishna in a Bangladeshi orphanage in 2007 when they were only a month old, and arranged for them to be brought to Australia.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.