KUALA LUMPUR: The Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin congratulated the operation team of Tunku Azizah Hospital (HTA) here for its success in separating a pair of pre-mature conjoined twins, Daelan Hope Marshall and Daevyn Hope Marshall last Saturday.

Through a post on his Facebook, Khairy expressed his appreciation of the operation team headed by HTA paediatric surgery consultant Datuk Dr Zakaria Zahari, anesthetists and all the nurses and medical assistants involved in the 66-minute surgery.

"This is the third operation involving conjoined twins which was successfully carried out by HTA since it was opened," said the post.

He also congratulated the parents of the babies, Deborah Anne M. Vincent Paul and David Marshall at the birth of the twins.

Earlier, Khairy, accompanied by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah visited Daelan and Daevyn and their parents at HTA and also shared a photo of their visit.

The operation on the conjoined twins was successfully carried out by the operation team involving 13 specialist doctors including six paediatric surgeons from all over the country and almost 20 nurses and paediatric operation theatre staff.

The twins were born at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRPB), Ipoh at 33 weeks before the case was referred to HTA.

Due to extrauterine twin to twin transfusion complication, the HTA and HRPB specialists decided that the twins be separated at the age of 17 days.

-- BERNAMA