Twelve-week-old conjoined twin girls from Jiangxi province were successfully separated at a Shanghai hospital on Tuesday with the assistance of 3-D printing technology.
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Medical checks showed that the girls, weighing a combined 9.55 kg, were connected by soft tissue at the hips. They shared a 10-centimeter anal tube, but had separate digestive systems.
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The surgery started at 10:20 am and lasted about five hours.
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Pediatric surgery expert Zheng Shan, vice-president of Children's Hospital of Fudan University, who led the surgery, said the operation included body separation, nerve system repairs and anus rebuilding.
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Ten doctors, from the neurosurgery, plastic surgery and general surgery departments, participated in the operation.
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The hospital pioneered the use of 3-D printing technology in this surgery. It had sent the girls' CT and MRI data information to a 3-D printing company to rebuild the anatomical structure of the conjoined body parts.