Conjoined twins in Edo state of Nigeria; a report of the first surviving set

Abstract

The term conjoined twins refers to babies who are physically joined at some point. It is a rare condition with an estimated incidence of 1 per 200,000 live births. We report our experience with conjoined twins over a twelve year period in tertiary hospital in Nigeria and a case of the first set of conjoined twin survivors in Benin City, Nigeria. Over the last twelve years (1999-2011), three cases of conjoined twin have been recorded in our teaching hospital. A set of thoracoomphalopagus twins (females) ere delivered in 1999 and they survived for only 36hrs. Another set of female omphalopagus twins were delivered in 2009 and survived a separation surgery. A third set of female thoracoomphalopagus was delivered in another institution same year and referred to our unit but they only survived for 48 hours. The first surviving twins were omphalopagus, sharing a single liver, and common bile duct emptying into a common duodenum. The stomach, as well as the jejunum was normal and unshared. Surgical separation of the liver was done and biliary reconstruction procedure performed for twin II. A three -year follow up showed good outcome.x