NELSPRUIT – One of the two heads of a baby boy born at Rob Ferreira Hospital on Friday, is “non-responsive”. This is according to the spokesman for Mpumalanga’s Department of Health, Mr Ronnie Masilela.
When Lowvelder first heard about the birth, it enquired about Siamese or conjoined twins, a term used to refer to identical twins that share one body. This occurs when an identical twin does not separate properly in the uterus during pregnancy. However, Masilela insisted that it was one baby as he only had one spine.
Information about the baby is limited as he had been instructed by the mother not to divulge information about her child to the media. Hospital spokesmen must adhere to such a request for patient confidentiality. “The baby boy was born in Rob Ferreira Hospital on Friday night. The mother is very upset and there is great sensitivity and emotions attached at this stage,” Masilela said.
He added that the little one was being examined by specialists who would investigate “a possible way forward”.
According to Wikipedia, conjoined twins are a rare phenomenon, with about one occurrence in every 200 000 births. The incidence is somewhat higher in south-west Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn and the overall survival rate is approximately 25 per cent. The condition is more frequently found among female babies.
Conjoined twins are typically classified by the point at which their bodies are joined. The most common types are:
Thoraco-omphalopagus (28 per cent of cases): Two bodies fused from the upper chest to the lower chest. These twins usually share a heart, and may also share the liver or part of the digestive system.
Thoracopagus (18,5 per cent): Two bodies fused from the upper thorax to lower belly.
Omphalopagus (10 per cent): Two bodies fused at the lower chest. Unlike thoracopagus, the heart is never involved in these cases; however, the twins often share a liver, digestive system, diaphragm and other organs.
Parasitic twins (10 per cent): Twins that are asymmetrically conjoined, resulting in one twin that is small, less formed, and dependent on the larger twin for survival.
Craniopagus (six per cent): Fused skulls, but separate bodies. These twins can be conjoined at the back of the head, the front, or the side, but not on the face or the base of the skull.
Other less-common types include:
Cephalopagus: Two faces on opposite sides of a single, conjoined head; the upper portion of the body is fused while the bottom portions are separate. These twins generally cannot survive due to severe malformations of the brain.
Syncephalus: One head with a single face but four ears, and two bodies.
Cephalothoracopagus: Bodies fused in the head and thorax (chest). In this type of twins, there are two faces facing in opposite directions, or sometimes a single face and an enlarged skull.
Xiphopagus: Two bodies fused in the xiphoid cartilage, which is approximately from the navel to the lower breastbone. These twins almost never share any vital organs, with the exception of the liver.
Ischiopagus: Fused lower half of the two bodies, with spines conjoined end to end at a 180° angle. These twins have four arms; two, three or four legs; and typically one external set of genitalia and anus.
Omphalo-ischiopagus: Fused in a similar fashion as ischiopagus twins, but facing each other with a joined abdomen akin to omphalopagus. These twins have four arms, and two, three, or four legs.
Parapagus: Fused side by side with a shared pelvis.
Craniopagus parasiticus: Like craniopagus, but with a second bodiless head attached to the dominant head.
Pygopagus (Iliopagus): Two bodies joined at the pelvis.
Rachipagus: Twins joined along the dorsal aspect (back) of their bodies, with fusion of the vertebral arches and the soft tissue from the head to the buttocks.
