Neurosurgeon separates conjoined twins born with brains 'fussed' together after 27-hour surgery
01.08.2022 - 16:01
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A British neurosurgeon has successfully separated two Brazilian twins whose brains have been 'fused' together since birth. Bernardo and Arthur Lima spent more than 27 hours under the knife in Rio de Janeiro as paediatric surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani battled to separate the pair.
Jeelani, who works at Great Ormond Street Hospital, completed seven operations on the three-year-olds with the final operation taking more than 27 hours alone to complete . Almost 100 medical staff were involved in the groundbreaking medical procedure.
Surgeons and experts had spent months trialling techniques using virtual reality projections to help make one of the most complex separation processes ever completed possible. Jeelani's charity, which he founded in 2018, provided funding for the life saving surgery.
The surgeon described the process as "space-age stuff". He told the Mirror that, for the first time in the world, surgeons in separate countries wore headsets and operated in the same "virtual reality room" together.
Speaking about the VR aspect of the surgery, Mr Jeelani said: "It's just wonderful, it's really great to see the anatomy and do the surgery before you actually put the children at any risk. You can imagine how reassuring that is for the surgeons.
"In some ways, these operations are considered the hardest of our time, and to do it in virtual reality was just really man-on-Mars stuff."
He said that previously unsuccessful attempts to separate the boys meant their anatomy was complicated by scar tissue, and he was "really apprehensive" about the risky procedure.
Mr Jeelani said he was "absolutely shattered" after the 27-hour operation, where he took only four 15-minute breaks for food and water, but it was "wonderful" to see the