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Munku · 02-07-2004, 10:09 AM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4194938/

"Infant dies after surgery to remove second head"

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - An infant girl died Saturday after surgery to remove a second head, her mother said.

A medical team completed the operation Friday evening but said 7-week-old Rebeca Martinez had been susceptible to infection or hemorrhaging. The baby died 12 hours after the surgery, believed to be the first of its kind.

The second head, which doctors said threatened the girl's development, grew from the top of her skull and had its own partly developed brain, ears, eyes and lips.

During the surgery, 18 surgeons, nurses and doctors had taken several rotations to cut off the undeveloped tissue, clip the veins and arteries, and close the skull using a bone and skin graft from the second head.

The surgery was complicated because the two heads shared arteries. Although only partially developed, the mouth on her second head moved when Rebeca was being breast-fed.

The operation was critical because the head on top was growing faster than the lower one, said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, the lead brain surgeon and director of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of California at Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital.

Without an operation, he said, "the child would barely be able to lift her head at 3 months old." Lazareff said the pressure from the second head, attached on top of the first and facing up, would have prevented Rebeca's brain from developing.

Lazareff, who led a team that successfully separated conjoined Guatemalan twin girls in 2002, led the operation along with Dr. Benjamin Rivera, a neurosurgeon at the Medical Center of Santo Domingo and the orthopedic center.

Rebeca was born on Dec. 17 with the undeveloped head of her twin, a condition known as craniopagus parasiticus. Twins born conjoined at the head are extremely rare, accounting for one of every 2.5 million births.

Parasitic twins like Rebeca are even rarer. Rebeca was the eighth documented case in the world of craniopagus parasiticus, Hazim said. All the other documented infants died before birth, making it the first known surgery of its kind, according to Lazareff and the other doctors.

Martinez, a tailor, and his wife, who is a supermarket cashier, together make about $200 a month and have two other children, aged 4 and 1.

They say doctors told them Rebeca would be born with a tumor on her head but that none of the prenatal tests showed a second head.

02-07-2004, 10:09 AM	#34 (permalink)
Munku Lost Location: Florida	Infant dies after surgery to remove second head.. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4194938/ "Infant dies after surgery to remove second head" SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - An infant girl died Saturday after surgery to remove a second head, her mother said. A medical team completed the operation Friday evening but said 7-week-old Rebeca Martinez had been susceptible to infection or hemorrhaging. The baby died 12 hours after the surgery, believed to be the first of its kind. The second head, which doctors said threatened the girl's development, grew from the top of her skull and had its own partly developed brain, ears, eyes and lips. During the surgery, 18 surgeons, nurses and doctors had taken several rotations to cut off the undeveloped tissue, clip the veins and arteries, and close the skull using a bone and skin graft from the second head. The surgery was complicated because the two heads shared arteries. Although only partially developed, the mouth on her second head moved when Rebeca was being breast-fed. The operation was critical because the head on top was growing faster than the lower one, said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, the lead brain surgeon and director of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of California at Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital. Without an operation, he said, "the child would barely be able to lift her head at 3 months old." Lazareff said the pressure from the second head, attached on top of the first and facing up, would have prevented Rebeca's brain from developing. Lazareff, who led a team that successfully separated conjoined Guatemalan twin girls in 2002, led the operation along with Dr. Benjamin Rivera, a neurosurgeon at the Medical Center of Santo Domingo and the orthopedic center. Rebeca was born on Dec. 17 with the undeveloped head of her twin, a condition known as craniopagus parasiticus. Twins born conjoined at the head are extremely rare, accounting for one of every 2.5 million births. Parasitic twins like Rebeca are even rarer. Rebeca was the eighth documented case in the world of craniopagus parasiticus, Hazim said. All the other documented infants died before birth, making it the first known surgery of its kind, according to Lazareff and the other doctors. Martinez, a tailor, and his wife, who is a supermarket cashier, together make about $200 a month and have two other children, aged 4 and 1. They say doctors told them Rebeca would be born with a tumor on her head but that none of the prenatal tests showed a second head.