Twins separated in landmark op

Thursday, August 5, 2004 Posted: 1:29 AM EDT (0529 GMT)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Surgeons in New York say they have successfully separated two-year-old Filipino twins who were conjoined at the head.
☆ Filipino 菲律宾人
More than twelve hours into the operation doctors teased apart the adjacent portions of Carl and Clarence Aguirre's brains, a Montefiore hospital statement said.
The brothers -- who were born in the southern Philippines and arrived in America in mid-September -- survived the procedure, but doctors warned that several more hours of delicate and difficult surgery is still needed.
☆ mid-September 九月中旬
The 16-member medical team was able to separate the shared system of veins that drained blood from the brothers' brains.
☆ drain 排出
After the procedure the twins' head-to-head operating tables were pulled apart slightly, the statement said.
☆ operating table 手术台
Because of the network of delicate veins located in the back of the brain, the work to isolate and separate them was meticulous and time-consuming.
☆ meticulous 小心翼翼 time-consuming 耗时的
It is the first time conjoined twins have been separated in a multi-stage procedure.
☆ multistage 多阶段
Instead of opting for the typical marathon two-day operation, doctors in this case chose four shorter procedures over ten months.
☆ opt for 选择
Doctors chose this approach because it meant a shorter time under anesthesia and a lower risk of massive bleeding and injury to the brain.
☆ anesthesia 麻醉
The time between procedures also allowed the twins to recover physically from the blood-vessel separation and to undergo rehabilitation and physical therapy, the doctors added.
☆ rehabilitation 康复,康复治疗
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