Delicate surgery to separate twin Guatemalan one-year-old girls joined at the skull has been scheduled for August 5, doctors said on Thursday.
The skulls of the girls, who celebrated their first birthday on Thursday, are fused with their faces tilted in opposite directions.
The surgery is expected to last around 10 hours and will involve some 50 medical staff, including neurosurgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses.
Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez were born last July in a small Guatemalan hospital, which contacted Healing the Children, a nonprofit group that helps find medical care for children in developing countries.
UCLA said the children are doing very well -- they are thriving, playing and even trying to crawl.
"We feel this process won't be complete until both girls leave the hospital with the same happy smiles that they have now," said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, associate professor of neurosurgery.
Kawamoto and Lazareff are donating their services for the surgery and treatment of the twins, which is expected to cost more than $1.5 million.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/25/joined.twins.reut/index.html
The skulls of the girls, who celebrated their first birthday on Thursday, are fused with their faces tilted in opposite directions.
The surgery is expected to last around 10 hours and will involve some 50 medical staff, including neurosurgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses.
Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez were born last July in a small Guatemalan hospital, which contacted Healing the Children, a nonprofit group that helps find medical care for children in developing countries.
UCLA said the children are doing very well -- they are thriving, playing and even trying to crawl.
"We feel this process won't be complete until both girls leave the hospital with the same happy smiles that they have now," said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, associate professor of neurosurgery.
Kawamoto and Lazareff are donating their services for the surgery and treatment of the twins, which is expected to cost more than $1.5 million.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/25/joined.twins.reut/index.html
