PETALING JAYA: The surgical team at Hospital Tunku Azizah (HTA) in Kuala Lumpur made history when they conducted the first successful separation of premature conjoined twins in Malaysia.

       HTA paediatric surgery consultant specialist Datuk Dr Zakaria Zahari said the twins, weighing at 2.7kg, were successfully separated on Saturday (March 19).

       "Such operations are normally conducted when the babies are at three to six years old, but due to the complication of ‘extrauterine twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome’, the twins' operation had to be conducted immediately when they were only 17 days old," he said in a statement released on HTA's Facebook page Sunday (March 20).

       The male twins were born at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRPB) when their mother was only 33 weeks into her pregnancy and HRPB neonatology specialist Dr Maneet Kaur Ranjuth Singh had referred them to HTA for further treatment.

       After an online discussion between HRPB and HTA specialist doctors at 2pm on March 15, a decision was made to conduct the risky surgery.

       On March 19, Dr Zakaria's team, including six paediatric specialists from all over the country, a paediatric anaesthetics team led by Dr Intan Zarina Fakir Mohamed and Dr Ruwaida Isa, as well as about 20 nurses and staff at the paediatric operating theater, successfully separated the twins in 66 minute, without any major complications.

       The "Omphalopagus" type of conjoined twins were sharing their liver while their other organs were normal.

       The preparation for the historic operation began as early as 7.30am and the twins were sent to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at 2pm.

       With support from the HTA neonatology team led by Dr Neoh Siew Hong and NICU nurses, it is hoped that the twins will be well.

       Since the opening of HTA, this is the third operation involving conjoined twins at the hospital.