PM congratulates team of doctors for operation on Lakshmi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday complimented Dr Sharan Patil and his team who performed a complicated surgery to separate two-year-old Lakshmi from her parasitic twin.

Singh wrote to Patil and his team at the super speciality Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore where the 27-hour marathon surgery took place last week.

The Prime Minister also wished Lakshmi a speedy recovery.

Lakshmi, a native of Bihar, was brought to the private hospital to undergo a surgery to separate her from a parasitic twin, which had stopped developing midway in the womb.

Her body had absorbed the foetus' extra limbs, resulting in an abnormal body structure.