Doctors Take One Twin Off Ventilator
Doctors Take One Separated Twin Off Ventilator, Might Do the Same With Second Twin Monday
The Associated Press
DALLAS Oct. 20 — It took a year of preparation, 18 doctors and a couple's determination to give their infant twins a shot at a normal life.
A week after a 34-hour operation in which neurosurgeons separated the intricate connection of blood vessels running between the brains of conjoined Egyptian twins, doctors say they are pleased with the boys' progress.
Mohamed Ibrahim, 2, was taken off a ventilator and was breathing on his own Sunday afternoon, and doctors hoped to do the same with his brother Ahmed as early as Monday.
Dr. James Thomas, chief of critical care services at Children's Medical Center Dallas, said in an update released by the hospital that he is cautiously optimistic that doctors will not have to place Mohamed back on a ventilator.
The twins were listed early Monday in critical but stable condition.
"Once each twin is breathing on his own without respiratory distress, his condition may be upgraded from critical to guarded," Thomas said.
The hospital said the twins are showing more motion in their arms and legs and improved response to verbal cues from the family and medical team.
"The neurosurgical and medical teams are very pleased with the twins' progress so far," Thomas said.
Thomas said Ahmed has not had any repeat of a seizure he suffered Friday night. A lumbar drain was removed Sunday after CT scans showed no accumulation of spinal fluid. Mohamed's lumbar drain remains in place.
The hospital said the boys continue to run a low-grade fever, but don't appear to have an infection.
The twins, joined at the top of their heads when they were born in Egypt on June 2, 2001, were separated Oct. 12.
In New York on Monday, doctors began the first of at least three operations on 18-month-old conjoined twins from the Philippines.
Carl and Clarence Aguirre are joined at the top of their heads and share a major vein that drains blood from the brain to the heart. Monday's operation was to stretch the twins' skin so there will be enough to cover their heads when they are separated.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Egyptian separated twins breathing on their own
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That is good to hear. 
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