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A hospital in Texas recently performed its first-ever separation surgery for conjoined twins, and the operation was deemed a success.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, Jan. 25, the Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth announced a team of doctors performed an 11-hour separation surgery on AmieLynn Rose and JamieLynn Rae Finley, who were three months and 20 days at the time of their surgery.
The surgery was completed on Monday, Jan 23, and it involved 25 medical professionals, according to the pediatric hospital.
FORMERLY CONJOINED TWIN GIVES BIRTH AT HOSPITAL WHERE SHE WAS BORN
The Cook Children’s Medical Center reports that AmieLynn and JamieLynn are in early recovery.
Conjoined twins AmieLynn Rose and JamieLynn Rae Finley were surgically separated on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, at the Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. (Cook Children’s Medical Center / MAGNIFI U /TMX)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Cook Children’s Medical Center for comment.
AmieLynn and JamieLynn were born prematurely on Oct. 3, 2022, at the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, according to the medical center press release.
The twin girls were born at 34 weeks of gestation and reportedly weighed 4 pounds and 7.8 ounces.
Full-term pregnancies last between 37 and 42 weeks, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine.
"The separation surgery [has given] AmieLynn and JamieLynn better opportunities to improve their health and development, and to grow as the unique, individual little girls that they have been since birth, regardless of their physical connection as conjoined twins," Dr. Jose L. Iglesias, medical director of pediatric surgery at Cook Children’s Medical Center, said in a statement.
AmieLynn and JamieLynn were omphalopagus twins – meaning they were joined at the abdomen and shared one or more internal organs.
The sisters "were joined from the lower part of the breastbone to their bellybutton" and they reportedly shared a liver, according to Cook Children’s Medical Center’s press release.
Iglesias, who was the lead surgeon for AmieLynn and JamieLynn, worked with the larger Cook Children’s Medical Center team to complete body scans, anatomy models, surgery maps, simulations, operation room preparation and surgical choreography rehearsals.
CONJOINED MICHIGAN TWINS SEPARATED IN 11-HOUR SURGERY
On surgery day, the twin girls were cared for by three anesthesiologists, four pediatric surgeons, two plastic surgeons and 18 other clinical professionals.
A team of 25 medical professionals at the Cook Children’s Medical Center separated conjoined twin sisters AmieLynn Rose and JamieLynn Rae Finley after an 11-hour surgery. (Cook Children’s Medical Center / MAGNIFI U /TMX)
The medical experts who cared for AmieLynn and JamieLynn reportedly worked to improve the girls’ health, growth and development before the surgery could be done, including a focus on nutrition and proper function of their brain, heart, lungs and other vital organs.
"At this stage in AmieLynn and JamieLynn’s growth and development, this was the right time for them to have the surgery," Dr. Mary Frances Lynch, a neonatologist at Cook Children’s Medical Center, said in a statement.
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"Separation now will benefit AmieLynn and JamieLynn by allowing them continue reaching important growth and development milestones in their individual health journeys," Lynch continued.
AmieLynn and JamieLynn are receiving post-surgery care from the Cook Children’s Medical Center neonatology and NICU departments, according to the hospital’s press release.
Their parents, Amanda Arciniega and James Finley, were present at Cook Children’s Medical Center on the surgery day and "patiently waited for news of their separation," the hospital reported.
James Finley (left) and Amanda Arciniega (right) are parents to AmieLynn Rose and JamieLynn Rae Finley. (Cook Children’s Medical Center / MAGNIFI U /TMX)
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"Conjoined twins are rare; it’s estimated to occur in 1-in-200,000 live births," the Cook Children’s Medical Center noted in its press release. "In fact, each year only five to eight conjoined twins worldwide survive the first few days after birth."
