Iyad and Ziad, the Iraqi conjoined twins, were successfully separated at King Adulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saturday. The marathon surgical operation to separate the Iraqi twins started at 8 A.M. and continued for eight hours. The surgical process took place in eight phases. Soon after the separation the twins were moved to two separate beds. The surgical process was completed at around 3.15 P.M. The separation of Iyad and Ziad was the 15th successful surgical process to separate conjoined twins in the Kingdom. The Iraqi twins were joined in the lower thoracic part and abdomen. They shared the lower part of the chest wall and the abdominal wall. They also shared the liver and small bowel. Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, Head of the Multidisciplinary Surgical Team, led the marathon operation. The reconstruction procedure was started soon after the separation was accomplished. The medical team was divided into groups of A and B for the reconstruction process. The surgical team also included four Iraqi doctors from Al-Khansaa Hospital, Mosul. The four Iraqi physicians observe the procedures. King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, issued directives for the separation of Iraqi twins, who were flown to Riyadh in Air Ambulance on April 7. Conjoined twins of various nationalities that were separated at King Abdulaziz Medical City on instructions from King Abdullah included three sets from Saudi Arabia, two sets each from Egypt and Sudan and one each from Cameroon, Morocco, Iraq, Poland, the Philippines and Malaysia. – SG __
