One of the conjoined twins taken off ventilator

New Delhi: The health condition of the twins — Jagga and Kalia —  whose heads were separated on October 26 at AIIMS, has further improved. The doctors informed that Jagga has been taken off ventilator and is conscious. 

His twin brother Kalia continues to be in the ICU and his condition is stable. The twins, hailing from Milipada village in Kandhamal district of Odisha, were craniopagus conjoined twins, joined at the heads. This is a very rare condition, doctors had said. 

While the first phase of the surgery was performed on August 28 when the doctors created venous bypass to separate the veins shared by the babies that returns blood to the heart from the brain, they were successfully separated in an 18-hour long journey in the second phase. 

The surgery was India’s first craniopagus surgery. The doctors on Wednesday said that Jagga recognises his mother and responds to question. “His cardiac and kidney function has further improved. If he remains stable, he will be shifted to private ward after 48 hours,” a doctor said. 

Meanwhile, Kalia’s condition is stable and all parameters are stable. “It is expected that he will be kept in the ICU for a longer period,” he added. 

Odisha’s health minister Pratap Jena visited the hospital here on Wednesday to inquire about their health condition and met the parents of the twins. He also met the team of doctors, including Dr A.K. Mahapatra, chief of neurosciences centre at AIIMS, Dr Deepak Kumar Gupta, professor of neurosurgery and Dr Maneesh Singhal, professor and head of plastic surgery, who conducted the surgery.

A team of 30 doctors from various departments, including neurosurgery, neuro-anesthesia, and pediatrics, undertook the second phase of the surgery on twins Jaga and Kalia.

The twins’ parents are small time farmers in Odisha and had approached the state government for financial help from the state government, following which the Odisha government had sanctioned `1 crore for the treatment.