Twelve-week-old conjoined twin girls from Jiangxi province were successfully separated at a Shanghai hospital on Tuesday with the assistance of 3-D printing technology.
Medical checks showed that the girls, weighing a combined 9.55 kg, were connected by soft tissue at the hips. They shared a 10-centimeter anal tube, but had separate digestive systems.
The surgery started at 10:20 am and lasted about five hours.
Pediatric surgery expert Zheng Shan, vice-president of Children's Hospital of Fudan University, who led the surgery, said the operation included body separation, nerve system repairs and anus rebuilding.
Ten doctors, from the neurosurgery, plastic surgery and general surgery departments, participated in the operation.
The hospital pioneered the use of 3-D printing technology in this surgery. It had sent the girls' CT and MRI data information to a 3-D printing company to rebuild the anatomical structure of the conjoined body parts.
