Baby to have second head removed

[lethal]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americ....ap/index.html

Dominican baby born with second head scheduled for rare surgery

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- A Dominican infant born with a second head will undergo a risky operation Friday to remove the appendage, which has a partially formed brain, ears, eyes and lips.

The surgery is complicated because the two heads share arteries.

Led by a Los Angles-based neurosurgeon who successfully separated Guatemalan twins, the medical team will spend about 13 hours removing Rebeca Martinez's second head.

The 18 surgeons, nurses and doctors will cut off the undeveloped tissue, clip the veins and arteries and close the skull of the 7-week-old baby using a bone graft from another part of her body.

"We know this is a delicate operation," Rebeca's father, Franklyn Martinez, 28, told The Associated Press. "But we have a positive attitude."

CURE International, a Lemoyne, Pa.-based charity that gives medical care to disabled children in developing countries, is paying for the surgery and follow-up care.

Dr. Jorge Lazareff, director of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of California at Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital, will lead the operation along with Dr. Benjamin Rivera, a neurosurgeon at the Medical Center of Santo Domingo. Lazareff led a team that successfully separated Guatemalan twin girls in 2002.

Doctors say if the surgery goes well Rebeca won't need physical therapy and will develop as a normal child.

Rebeca was born on December 17 with the undeveloped head of her twin, a condition known as craniopagus parasiticus.

Twins born conjoined at the head are extremely rare, accounting for one of every 2.5 million births. Parasitic twins like Rebeca are even rarer.

Rebeca is the eighth documented case in the world of craniopagus parasiticus, said Dr. Santiago Hazim, medical director at CURE International's Center for Orthopedic Specialties in Santo Domingo, where the surgery will be performed.

All the other documented infants died before birth, making it the first known surgery of its kind, Lazareff and Hazim said.

Hazim said the surgery must be done now so the pressure of Rebeca's other brain doesn't prevent her from developing.

Rebeca shares blood vessels and arteries with her second head. Although only partially developed, the mouth on her second head moves when Rebeca is being breast-fed. Tests indicate some activity in her second brain.

Martinez and his 26-year-old wife, Maria Gisela Hiciano, say doctors told them before Rebeca was born that she would have a tumor on her head, but none of the prenatal tests showed a second head developing.

Martinez works at a tailor's shop. Hiciano is a supermarket cashier. Together they make about $200 a month. They have two other children, ages 4 and 1.

Lazareff says Rebeca's chances of survival are good. Still, he refuses to make a prognosis.

"We'll do everything we can to make this successful," he said.

[SunWuKong]

Rebeca shares blood vessels and arteries with her second head. Although only partially developed, the mouth on her second head moves when Rebeca is being breast-fed. Tests indicate some activity in her second brain.

wow. what if there're throught processes going on in that brain. that's a living consciousness.

[ism]

Originally Posted by SunWuKong

wow. what if there're throught processes going on in that brain. that's a living consciousness.

Wonder what right-to-lifers think about this. Does the second head have a separate soul? It sounds like it's mostly autonomous or replicating the main brain via spinal cord but the possibility that's it's separate poses some nice thought exercises.

[VV o n g B a]

narsty. can u imagine breast feeding a kid w/ 2 heads? *shivers*

[rice cracker]

This reminds me of Stephen King's "The Dark Half." Well, except the twin in this case is external.

[mr. x]

Originally Posted by rice cracker

This reminds me of Stephen King's "The Dark Half." Well, except the twin in this case is external.

reminds me of the conjoined fetus ep. of south park

anyway my cousin had an extra finger when she was born, it had no bone or anything it was just kinda there so they cut if off

[lethal]

[AngryABCGirl]

Originally Posted by lethalweapon

OMFG.

Dude, how's that baby gonna feel his whole life knowing... that there was anther head and concious...

[bluemonq]

dude, this so reminds me of my neuro teacher's friend. she was pregnant and soon afterwards they had a blood test done. the blood type that showed up belonged to neither parent so they did an examination and did samples and stuff. they found out that the the fetus developed from the ovary of the friend's sister who was absorbed in-utero. google chimerism for more info...

[lethal]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...220EST0835.DTL

Surgeons successfully complete rare surgery to remove second head of Dominican baby

A team of surgeons successfully removed the second head of a Dominican baby Friday in a complex operation that doctors believe to be the first of its kind.

The medical team led by a Los Angeles-based neurosurgeon completed the operation on 7-week-old Rebeca Martinez in nearly 11 hours, saying it went smoothly.

"We are super happy. This is what we hoped for, and it happened," her father, Franklin Martinez, told The Associated Press. "The only new thing now is that she'll be coming home without the extra part she used to have."

The second head, a partially formed twin that doctors said threatened the girl's development, had its own partly developed brain, ears, eyes and lips.

Eighteen surgeons, nurses and doctors took several rotations to cut off the undeveloped tissue, clip the veins and arteries, and close the skull using a bone and skin graft from the second head.

"The girl is doing great. The surgery is over and her head has been closed," said Dr. Santiago Hazim, medical director of Santo Domingo's Center for Orthopedic Specialties, where the surgery was performed.

He said she was in intensive care and would be in the hospital at least 10 days.

"Now we begin the second big risk, the post-operation recovery," Hazim said. Rebeca is still susceptible to infection or hemorrhaging, he said.

The surgery was complicated because the two heads share arteries. Although only partially developed, the mouth on her second head moved when Rebeca was being breast-fed.

The operation was critical because the head on top was growing faster than the lower one, said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, the lead brain surgeon and director of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of California at Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital.

Without an operation, he said, "the child would barely be able to lift her head at 3 months old."

Lazareff said the pressure from the second head, attached on top of the first and facing up, would have prevented Rebeca's brain from developing.

CURE International, a Lemoyne, Pennsylvania-based charity that funds the orthopedic center and gives medical care to disabled children in developing countries, is paying an estimated $100,000 for the surgery.

Before the surgery began, Rebeca's parents followed her to the door of the operating room and said a prayer over their baby, holding hands and gently caressing their daughter's head. "Be strong, Rebeca. May God be with you," her 26-year-old mother Maria Gisela Hiciano said.

During the operation she and Martinez, 29, waited in a separate room watching baseball on television and receiving visitors who brought flowers and stuffed animals. Psychologists also visited them.

Lazareff led a team that successfully separated conjoined Guatemalan twin girls in 2002. He performed Rebeca's operation along with Dr. Benjamin Rivera, a neurosurgeon at the Medical Center of Santo Domingo and the orthopedic center.

Doctors say it's possible that Rebeca won't need physical therapy and will develop as a normal child.

Rebeca was born on Dec. 17 with the undeveloped head of her twin, a condition known as craniopagus parasiticus.

Twins born conjoined at the head are extremely rare, accounting for one of every 2.5 million births. Such twins have previously been separated in surgery.

However, parasitic twins like Rebeca are even rarer. She is the eighth documented case in the world of craniopagus parasiticus, Hazim said. All the other infants documented to have had the condition died before birth, making Rebeca's surgery the first known operation of its kind, according to Lazareff and the other doctors.

Martinez, a tailor, and his wife, who is a supermarket cashier, together make about $200 a month and have two other children ages 4 and 1.

They say doctors told them Rebeca would be born with a tumor on her head but that none of the prenatal tests showed a second head.

[moser]

Hate to say this, but the girl died.

Yahoo! article

[hooligan]

Originally Posted by moser

Hate to say this, but the girl died.

Yahoo! article

:( i just heard about this on cnn.