Siamese Twins

• Abstract Siamese twins are twins that bodies are attached together at birth. There are more than twelve types of Siamese twins, depending on where the twins are attached. The twins may have all the organs and other structures they need, or only

the vital organs such as their heart. Each twin need to be treated to have an independent healthy life. In addition, Separation is extremely risky and threatening the twins’ life, especially if they are sharing a vital organ, because in many cases, the surgeries end the life of one or both the twins.

• Introduction Siamese twins are identical twins born with their bodies at some points and having varying degrees of residual duplication, this is a result of the incomplete

Siamese twins occur once every

200,000 live birth. Approximately 50 percent of Siamese twins arrive stillborn, and 35 percent survive only for one day. Siamese twins are genetically identical and always have the same gender. The twins develop from the same fertilized egg, and they share the same amniotic cavity and placenta. Twinning occurs in one of two ways: either the mother releases two eggs instead of the usual egg, or only one egg divides after fertilization. If a woman releases the two eggs that are fertilized by separate sperm, the woman will have identical twins. In this case, a woman produces only a single egg, which does not fully separate after fertilization. The embryo that developed begins to split into identical twins during the first three weeks after conception, but it will stop before the process is complete. The separated egg will develop into a conjoined fetus. There are different types of conjoined twins, and the treatment of the twins is unique and the separation is very complex.

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• Types of Conjoined Twins

There are more than a dozen types of conjoined twins depending on where

the twins are attached. These types include: craniopagus (dorsal or rear union

They

were craniopagus twins. Carson and his 50 member surgical team agreed to

undertake the operation. They worked for 22 hours and at the end of the surgery,

the twins were successfully separated and live independently.

• Conclusion

From the moment they born, Conjoined twins face social problems, physical

problems, psychological problems and more important health problems. In addition,

a condition known as parasitic twinning or asymmetric conjoined twins happen when

one of the twins fails to develop properly, effectively acting as a parasite upon the

normally developed twin. If one or both the twins’ main body parts cannot do their

work properly, one or both the twins will die within a few days. Operation to separate

the twins is very hard and rarely to happen. Each twin is different than the other and

has equally difficult health problems. Separation of conjoined twins is a very hard

dangerous operation. However, operations have been very successful. Furthermore,

since 1950, there have been two hundred surgical separation of conjoined twins,