Egyptian doctors have carried out a complicated operation to remove a second head from an 11-month-old girl suffering from one of the rarest birth defects.
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Abla al-Alfi, a pediatric intensive care consultant at the Binha hospital near Cairo, reported that baby Manar’s condition is serious but improving following the procedure to address craniopagus parasiticus, a condition akin to that of conjoined twins connected at the skull.
Video footage provided by the hospital, a national centre in Egypt for children’s medicine, showed Manar smiling and at ease in a cot with the dark-haired “parasitic” twin, attached at the upper left side of the girl’s skull.
Under observation
Dr. Muhammad Lutfi Ibrahim, the lead brain surgeon, outlined the challenges during the 16-hour surgery, including the delicate task of detaching a crucial vein supplying the twin.
After the operation, the baby’s head was bandaged, and tubes surrounded her body in the intensive care ward. On the other hand, the separate twin sister, Nura, is in good health after initial birth complications on March 30, 2004.
In Binha, a 13-member surgical team led by Al-Alfi carefully separated Manar’s brain from the conjoined organ, cutting off the blood supply to the extra head to prevent cardiac arrest. Chosen for its proximity and equipped facilities, Binha was preferred over more experienced centers in Cairo or abroad.
Skull reconstructedAl-Alfi said Manar’s skull had been reconstructed during surgery and her skin had been joined over the bone, leaving no need for further reconstructive surgery.
Delaying Manar’s operation after birth was a deliberate choice, with Dr. Alfi stating, “We studied the babies well, examining how the blood supply of the parasite is working.” Manar is kept in intensive care for up to 10 days with cautious optimism, as Alfi notes, “Things are improving, but complications can arise at any time.”
This rare birth defect occurs when an embryo starts splitting into identical twins but fails to complete the process, resulting in one twin not fully developing in the womb. The second twin may appear as an extra limb, a complete second body without vital organs, or, exceptionally, as a head.
