The child is 3rd Miracle Baby to have survived thoracopagus separation surgery
A team of doctors at Narayana Health City performed a PDA stenting as well as a thoracopagus separation surgery and saved the life of baby Cleanne Papillon. Hailing from Mauritius, Baby Cleanne Papillon was one of the conjoined twins who had a shared heart with her sister.
Their survival required expert care, the Mauritian health department reached out to hospitals abroad. Narayana Health City stood took up this challenging case owing to their vast experience in handling complex paediatric cases. The doctors put them on intensive care. The intensive care team under the leadership of Dr Riyan Shetty and Dr Ganesh Sambandamoorthy ensured the babies were stabilised faster. Once they were stabilised, PDA stenting was performed to improve the condition of the heart.
Elaborating about PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) stenting, Dr. Shreesha Shankar Maiya, Consultant – Paediatric Cardiology and Electrophysiology said, “Open surgery was not a choice in this case as the children were conjoined from the thorax region. Further, their heart was fused and the chambers were merged making their case a complex and unsuitable one for any surgical treatment. PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) stenting is interventional procedure wherein a stent is placed in the PDA and the blood flow from the heart is maintained. The intervention was successful and they were oxygenated well.”
While the intervention was successful, as staying together would affect both lives, the doctors advised separation surgery. Though the babies were twins, one of them suffered from non correctable congenital anomalies. They separated the babies and the tissues of deceased baby were used to reconstruct the torso of surviving twin.
Elaborating about the case, Dr Ashley D’ Cruz said, “The survival rate in conjoined twins are minimal. In fact, the survival ratio of Siamese twins with fused heart is even low. The child is the ‘3rd Miracle Baby’ in the world who has survived a thoracopagus separation surgery.”