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A London surgeon has told of his joy after successfully separating one-year-old twin girls in an extraordinary 14-hour operation.
Professor Noor ul Owase Jeelani, a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), completed the procedure at a hospital in Turkey on July 19.
The twins, named Minal and Mirha, are now recovering in hospital and expected to make full recoveries.
The operation at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital was completed in two surgical stages over the course of three months, with the final procedure lasting 14 hours.
Prof Jeelani told the Standard: “From what I hear, the girls are thriving. My team sometimes call me the ‘triplet’ as I become so intellectually and emotionally invested in helping these children. It was so rewarding to see two healthy children and the joy on their parents’ faces - a really wonderful feeling.”
Minal and Mirha were born in Pakistan with a rare pre-natal condition resulting in them being born conjoined at the head, sharing vital blood vessels.
The case was referred to Prof Noor’s team in October 2023 when the twins were just a few weeks old.
Prof Jeelani carried out the operation through his charity Gemini Untwined, which is dedicated to improving surgery and treatment for craniopagus children and others with complex craniofacial conditions.
He said: “We had already operated on two Turkish boys in 2020 so approached the Turkish Government with a similar request. They came back a week later with a positive response. It was logistically complex arranging the children to get to Turkey from Pakistan and to get our team over from the UK, but it went really well and the Turkish team was fantastic. Against the odds, we managed to pull it off.”
The team used mixed reality (MR) technology, which combined 3D images with the physical world to increase precision during the complex procedure.
It enables clinicians to interact with digital content - such as 3D renderings of patient scans - while remaining fully aware of their real-world surroundings.
“For the surgery, we used special goggles that can give you images of the brain, blood vessels or any other part of the anatomy that you want. Then you can position it and superimpose on a child’s head during the procedure,” Prof Jelani said.
“The technology helps to give you that assurance that your surgical planning has been correct. Sometimes it can show me something that I haven’t seen. Within the next five years, I can see mixed reality being used in more routine surgery. Hopefully we can encourage young engineers and surgeons to further develop it.”
Conjoined twins are very rare and account for only one in every 2.5 million births, according to GOSH. Around four in ten are stillborn or die during labour and a further third die within 24 hours.
Prof Jeelani has worked full time at GOSH since 2009 and holds an Honorary Associate Professorship at the Institute of Child Health at University College London. During his career, he has undertaken several operations to separate conjoined children.
He said that the operation, while not carried out in the UK, showed the “academic excellence” and strength of British medicine.
“We are the world leaders in delivering this kind of complex surgery. Our work internationally helps to feed back into our daily operations at GOSH and elsewhere. The NHS has many challenges, but it is right up there in terms of academic prowess and clinical platforms.”
