(5 Jul 2003)
Raffles Hospital, Singapore - July 5, 2003
1. Exterior, hospital
2. Hospital windows
3. Close shot, window
4. Reception of Raffles Hospital
Recent File
5. Various of twins at Raffles Hospital
Raffles Hospital, Singapore - July 5, 2003
6. Set-up shot, Dr Prem Kumor Nair, General Manager Corporate Services, Raffles Medical Group
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr Prem Kumor Nair, General Manager Corporate Services
"Laleh and Ladan woke up quite early about 7 o'clock. They had a shower, they prayed with some of their good friends, they were in a very upbeat mood. A lot of the hospital staff visited them to give them their best wishes."
8. Various cutaways
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr Prem Kumor Nair, General Manager Corporate Services, Raffles Medical Group
"I think this is the day they have been waiting for. I think they are very happy that the day has finally come. Obviously, they will probably still feel nervous, anxious. They probably will have a lot of thoughts going through their minds. But yes, this is the day they have been waiting for and I think they are coping very well."
10. Media Centre sign
11. Various, press
STORYLINE:
Doctors carried out last minute tests on Saturday, ahead of a risky operation to separate 29-year-old Iranian twins born joined at the head, according to officials at Raffles Hospital, Singapore.
Raffles Hospital spokesman Dr. Prem Kumor Nair told a news conference that experts studied how blood flows through Ladan and Laleh Bijani's brains one last time before Sunday when 28 doctors and some 100 medical assistants will begin operating.
The surgery will last days and could kill one or both of them, according to hospital officials.
After a lifetime of compromises on everything from when to wake up each day to what city to live in, the pair have decided they would rather risk death - or being left brain dead - than go on living joined together.
The operation will mark the first time surgeons have tried to separate adult craniopagus twins - siblings born joined at the head - since the operation was first successfully performed in 1952.
The twins spent Saturday morning with friends from Iran and had their hair cut to make wigs to wear when they are recovering after surgery, Nair said.
Dr. Benjamin Carson, a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon from Baltimore, Maryland, and one of six international experts assisting in the surgery, met the twins on Friday.
According to a hospital statement Carson told the sisters: "Rest assured, we're all here to help you. Please stay positive".
Ladan and Laleh were "visibly nervous as the big day approaches" but "said they were reassured by Dr. Carson's calming presence," the statement added.
Although Carson has said he is optimistic the surgery will be a success, he said the sisters each have a 50-50 chance of survival.
The surgeons' biggest challenge will be grappling with a shared vein that drains blood from their brains.
German doctors concluded in 1996 that surgery on the sisters was too dangerous because of that vein.
One sister will have to have a graft to replace the shared vein, probably a vein taken from a leg, according to Carson.
Nair said Saturday's tests were aimed at finding alternative blood channels and see if a bypass was necessary.
The tests, led by French neuroradiologist Dr. Pierre-Louis Lasjaunias, were expected to last five hours.
The twins will remain seated throughout the operation - a standard practice in brain surgery - which will last at least 48 hours. Medical experts have said it could take four days.
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