OPERATION: SEPARATION

Surgeons in Brazil and the UK performed a groundbreaking procedure using virtual reality to separate these conjoined twins

- MAXINE PETERS

THE hospital passage filled with family members waiting with bated breath. Hugging, holding hands, and praying, the small gathering of people were all desperately hoping for one thing: news that two little boys had survived.

As doctors rolled out heavily sedated brothers Arthur and Bernardo Lima, tears of joy streamed down the faces of their parents, Adriely and Antonio Lima.

“I can’t believe my children are separated!” Adriely shouted to those who’d been so solemn just moments before.

The relief was understandable. Their three-year-old sons went into the operating theatre as conjoined twins and emerged more than a day later, safely separated thanks to groundbreaking surgery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Arthur and Bernardo’s case was highly complex as they were born craniopagus. This means the brothers were connected to each other with fused skulls and intertwined brains that shared vital veins.

Adding to the complexity is that one of the boys faced upwards, while the other faced downwards – their separation was believed to be impossible.

But as these two boys showed, the impossible didn’t apply to them. Medical teams on two continents pushed the boundaries of medical innovation and research even further by preparing and doing the surgery in virtual reality – the first time such technology had been used for this purpose in Brazil.

“As a parent myself, it’s always such a special privilege to be able to improve the outcome for these children and their families,” says Dr. Noor ul Owase Jeelani, a surgeon at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, who directed the procedure.