Tay-lah and Monique Armstrong, who were born with their skulls fused, were in a critical but stable condition last night. It's so exciting to see them sleeping in two separate beds for the first time. The twins shared major blood vessels but had individual brains. Doctors said before the operation that there was a 70 per cent chance one of the girls would not survive the surgery. One of the grandfathers said doctors had warned them it could be up to 14 days before the twins were in the clear.
Every hour is critical.
Dr Campbell said earlier in the week the biggest challenge was to separate the veins connected to each baby's brain. He said doctors would then reconstruct the shared portions of brain and skull before plastic surgeons covered the areas with skin. The identical twins were born with a rare condition known as craniopagus, occurring in only 2 per cent of Siamese twin births or one in every 5 billion births. There have been about 36 similar operations worldwide, with at least one operation leading to the death of a twin. A hospital spokeswoman said Dr Campbell did basic surgical training in Brisbane, then advanced training in neurosurgery in Canberra and Brisbane.