WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Groundbreaking surgery for conjoined twins

London - September 19, 2011

British doctors have successfully separated twin girls who were born joined at the head. The sisters shared blood supply to their brains, giving surgeons a difficult challenge.

The baby twin sisters could not have survived without each other -- until now. British surgeons separated 11 month old Rital and Ritag Gaboura in a series of rare and risky operations.

"I'm so happy because everything went smoothly - everything was great," said Abdelmajeed Gaboura, the girls' father.

The Sudanese twins were born joined at the head, something that happens in about one in a half-million births. The girls shared a blood supply to their brains, giving doctors an especially difficult challenge in separating them.

"There was a lot of blood flowing from one twin to the other and the twin that was receiving most of the blood. Her heart was being overloaded and overtime - progressively she was going to have heart failure," said Dr. Owase Jeelani, the lead neurosurgeon.

That's when the family flew from Sudan to London to get help. A team of doctors at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital performed four surgeries on the twins at no cost. Doctors say the operations were complex since blood vessels crossed over from one baby to the other. Surgeons say their toughest decision was deciding which twin got what arteries and veins to ensure they both had the best chance of survival.

Now just a few weeks later, Rital and Ritaj are happy together and apart. "They still like to be close to each other most of the time and I'm sure they are going to love each other more and more over time," Gaboura said.

Doctors say the twins show no signs of brain damage and should go on to lead healthy lives.

Tina Kraus - CBS News