Country’s first operation on conjoined spines done successfully
The first-phase operation on conjoined spines of Nuha and Naba was done successfully at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMU) on Tuesday (31 January).
The girls aged nine months and 12 days are doing well after the surgery, BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Md Sharfuddin Ahmed said today.
Transport worker Alamgir's wife gave birth to twin daughters – Nuha and Naba – at a clinic in Kurigram.
But the couple struggled to accept the reality that they would have to see their daughters suffer for the rest of their lives due to having conjoined lower backs.
Some brave health professionals from the BSMMU came forward and formed a medical board to perform the country's first operation on conjoined spines.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took the initiative to bear their medical costs after being contacted by hospital authorities.
BSMMU professor Dr Mohammad Hossain, first came to the assistance of Alamgir when he heard of Nuha and Naba during a visit to Kurigram.
The professor of neurosurgery took steps to get the twins admitted to BSMMU, led all the relevant medical activities for the past five months, and even shared medical expenses with the hospital authorities. Due to multiple birth defects in the baby sisters, Hossain's 19-member team had to delay operations till now.
The team includes experts on paediatric surgery, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, paediatric medicine, vascular surgery, anaesthesia, and transfusion medicine.
A successful separation operation on Nuha and Naba would be the third on conjoined twins in the country.