There is uncertainty over whether the planned surgery to separate conjoined twins would go ahead with the Singapore health minister cautioning about “high risks”.
There is uncertainty over whether the planned surgery to separate conjoined twins would go ahead with the Singapore health minister cautioning that the operation carried “high risks”. But doctors said such a view was premature.
Five-year-old Vani and Veena are expected to go under the knife at the city-state based East Shore Hospital in August this year. At the behest of the Andhra Pradesh government, reputed neurosurgeon Keith Goh will perform the operation to separate the twins, joined at their heads.
Singapore health minister Khaw Boon Wan said doctors may end up harming the patients and should not attempt such operations, the Straits Times quoted him as saying.
“It may be best not to operate on conjoined twins. To change the course of nature may do more harm than good,” he said.
“Surgeons, in some instances, have to let one twin die to save the other. Even those who survive are often left with brain damage. So to what extent is this quality of life?”
The minister said he was making these comments taking into account the history of such operations in his country. Khow was apparently referring to the outcome of similar operation in 2001 when a team from Singapore general hospital separated 11-month-old Nepalese conjoined twins named Ganga and Jamuna. Ganga, the weaker twin, died at the age of eight from a severe chest infection. Her sister, Jamuna, has been having complications with her spinal cord.
Goh, who was involved in a marathon operation of twins born with joined skulls, said he differed with Wan. He said a final decision should come after a full evaluation and all investigations had been done.
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