Surgeons Sperate Conjoined twins

June 20, 2004

Surgeons Separate Conjoined Twins

WASHINGTON (June 19) - Four-month-old twin girls who were joined from their

chests to their abdomens were successfully separated in a six-hour surgery with

no complications, doctors at Children's National Medical Center in

Washington, D.C., announced Saturday.

Jade and Buckles of Woodbridge, Va., were in critical but stable

condition, according to a hospital statement.

''After months of planning for many different scenarios, the separation went

very smoothly,'' lead surgeon Hartman said in the statement.

The surgery began at 10:10 a.m. Jade and were separated at 12:30 p.m.,

and individual surgery to close gaping wounds in each girls' torso continued

for more than three hours.

''It has been a long journey and we know we are not out of the woods yet, but

we are extremely relieved that the surgery was successful,'' said the girls'

parents, and Buckles.

The girls were born Feb. 26 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda,

Md. They shared a liver and one of the babies' hearts rested horizontally,

protruding into the other girl's chest cavity.

The hospital has scheduled a news conference for Monday.

06-19-04 2236EDT

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