The Finley sisters were born as omphalopagus twins who shared a liver and were attached at the bottom portion of their breastbone to their belly button.
Although it wasn’t an easy surgery, physicians managed to complete it. Conjoined twin sisters JamieLynn Rae and AmieLynn Rose Finley, both 16 weeks old, underwent a difficult procedure and were successfully separated. The 11-hour procedure was a first for the Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, according to CBS News. To correctly separate the infants, 25 medical professionals, including six surgeons, were involved in the surgery.
Wini King, senior vice president and director of communications, diversity, equality, and inclusion at the Cook Children’s Health Care System, said during a news conference on Wednesday that this was a historic, fantastic day. The twins are recovering and being closely monitored, according to Dr. José Iglesias, M.D., the medical director of pediatric surgery and the primary surgeon on the treatment.
“We are very happy with their progress at this point,” Dr. Iglesias said. “They’re going to grow up into the little girls that they’re supposed to be: independent and feisty, like they’ve already shown us,” Iglesias added. “So, we’re very thankful with that so far.”
Courtesy of Cook Children’s Hospital
According to a hospital press release, medical specialists from several disciplines worked together on the complicated procedure. According to estimates, it only happens in 1 in 200,000 live births. The Finley sisters were born as omphalopagus twins who shared a liver and were attached at the bottom portion of their breastbone to their belly button. Parents Amanda Arciniega and James Finley welcomed twins AmieLynn and JamieLynn into the world on October 3 at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital. At 34 weeks gestation, the twins were 4 pounds, 7.8 ounces in weight. – Steve Sijenyi
