Syrian Conjoined Twins to Undergo Separation Surgery in Riyadh on Thursday

Riyadh, July 05, 2023, SPA -- The medical team responsible for Siamese twin surgeries will perform a delicate surgery to separate Bassam and Ehsan, Syrian conjoined twins, in the King Abdullah Specialist Children Hospital of King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh.
The surgery will be carried out by the medical team under the supervision of Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Advisor to the Royal Court and Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), as per the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
The surgery is expected to take nine-and-a-half hours and be performed over five phases with a team of 26 senior doctors, consultants, technical and nursing cadres, and assistants, said Dr. Al Rabeeah in press remarks.
The Syrian twins are 32 months old and weigh 19 kilograms together; they arrived in the Kingdom from Turkiye on May 22, 2023, Dr. Al Rabeeah noted.
Delicate medical examinations carried out by the medical team show that the Syrian twins are joined at the lower chest and abdomen, affecting their liver and intestines, he said.
Moreover, Bassam's brother, Ehsan, has no urinary or reproductive system (kidneys, ureters, bladder or male genitalia). Ehsan also suffers from major life-threatening congenital defects in the heart and neurological atrophy. These factors make the chance of Ehsan's survival improbable, Dr. Al Rabeeah stressed.
The medical team, out of its keenness to protect the life of Bassam, has decided to perform the separation surgery on the twins, expecting that Ehsan's chances of survival, due to his underdeveloped organs and major congenital heart defects, is unlikely, Dr. Al Rabeeah said.
The surgery will be the 58th on the list of the Saudi program for separating conjoined twins. The program has supervised 130 cases from 23 countries since 1990.
Dr. Al Rabeeah paid tribute on behalf of the medical team to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH the Crown Prince for the great support and follow-up that they have extended to the conjoined twins' program.
This support has significantly contributed to ensuring the success of the national scientific program that has become an international reference in this field, Dr. Al Rabeeah concluded.
--SPA