Texas To Separate 2 Conjoined Twin Girls

Thirty doctors are expected to be part of a surgery in Houston, Texas, to separate surgically conjoined twins Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata. The target date for the operation is by mid or end of February.

The twins, born on April 11, 2014 at Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women, had undergone preparatory surgery in December, said Dr Darrell Cass, pediatric surgeon, reports Fox News.

The procedure involved implanting custom-made tissue expanders on their chest and abdomen. The expanders are like balloons that gradually inflate with liquid. Its purpose is to stretch slowly their tissues and grow additional skin for the surgeons to have sufficient for the sister once they are separated.

The mother of the twins, Elysse Mata of Lubbock, Texas, gave birth to the two when she was only 31 weeks pregnant. The two weighed 7 ounces each when they were born, but have grown to 17 ounces each and still need round-the-clock attention at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care ward.

The pair share a liver, diaphragm, intestine and heart lining, and are joined from the chest to the pelvis. The surgery is expected to last one and a half days to complete.

Cass said, quoted by USA Today, “They are a very challenging set of conjoined twins. Fortunately for them, the life-threatening organs – the lung, the heart, the liver, diaphragm muscles – we think are going to be technically separable.”

To help the Matas cope with the expenses of raising the girls, the YouCaring.com fundraiser was established and has raised over $4,000.

The family has a son, Azariah Mata, who is now in kindergarten, and an upcoming German Shepherd that Azariah promised his two sisters once they come home.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au