A pair of conjoined twins at the stomach endured an 11-hour procedure as they were finally separated in Texas.
Sixteen-week-old AmieLynn Rose and JamieLynn Rae Finley are omphalopagus twins, meaning they are joined at the stomach and share one or more organs which in this case was the liver. The girls were attached from the breastbone to their belly button.
The surgery was carried out at Cook Children's medical Center, where a team of 25 medical staff, including six surgeons, performed the intricate procedure on Monday.
Dr José Iglesias was leading the team of the experts, which was carrying out the first ever procedure at the medical center, which had different coloured hats - green and purple - to distinguish which twin they were attending too after the separation was complete.
The twins had their toenail's painted with the designated colour, with AmieLynn with the green team and JamieLynn purple.
According to the Daily Mail, Dr Iglesias said after surgery: "The separation surgery will give AmieLynn and JamieLynn better opportunities to improve their health and development, and to grow as the unique, individual little girls that they have been since birth, regardless of their physical connection as conjoined twins."
Three anesthesiologists, four pediatric surgeons, two plastic surgeons and 16 other clinical professionals worked together to separate the twins and they split the shared liver before closing up the wounds.
The girls slept in separate cribs for the first time in their short lives. AmieLynn and JamieLynn were born prematurely at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth on October 3.
The medical professionals from both facilities are working together to compile a post-natal plan for the twins.
Dr Iglesias and his team spent weeks devising the plan for the procedure, which included making prosthetic versions of the two girls to map out how they would carry out the surgery.
According to the National Library of Medicine, the occurrence of conjoined twins happens between every 50,000 and 200,000 births, with the rate of stillbirth estimated at around 60 per cent.
Omphalopagus twins happens in around 10% of conjoined twin births, with the highest percentage being thoraco-omphalopagus, joined at the thorax and abdomen, at 28 per cent.
The total survival rate is believed to be around 7.5% and it has been reported that surgically separated cases - like in Texas - have a success rate of 60 per cent.
