Brazilian Conjoined Twin Sisters Separated Seven Months Ago Both Pass Away

Separation Surgery at 18 Months Old
One Sister Died Days After Operation
The Other Passed Away on the 24th

One of the Brazilian conjoined twin sisters, who had undergone separation surgery after being born physically attached, passed away on Christmas Eve.

According to Brazilian media on December 24 (local time), Aruna Rodrigues died at 3:51 p.m. at the State Children's and Adolescent Hospital in Goi?s. The cause of death was reported as septic shock.

The late appearance of Brazilian conjoined twin sisters. Screenshot from social media.

Aruna and her twin sister Kiraz were born as conjoined twins. When they were 18 months old, the sisters underwent a 19-hour surgery in May to be separated.

The hospital stated that "the surgery was successful," but Kiraz died a few days after the operation.

At the time of the separation surgery, as many as 60 medical staff members were involved. Sixteen surgeons participated in four-hour shifts, and the surgery cost approximately 310,000 pounds (about 540 million won). Six months prior to the operation, special skin expanders were implanted to stretch the sisters' skin in advance. The two sisters were a rare type of conjoined twins known as "tripusischiopagus," in which they were joined at the pelvis and shared three legs. This accounts for about 6% of all conjoined twin cases.

Dr. Zacarias Kalil, who was the sisters' primary physician, expressed his condolences on social media on December 24, saying, "Today, God has relieved Aruna's suffering and taken her to be with her sister Kiraz," and added, "I offer my deepest sympathy to this family who has fought with courage, faith, and love."

Aruna's father, Alessandro Rodrigues, said, "Although my daughter's condition had recently improved enough for her to be moved from the intensive care unit to a general ward, her health rapidly deteriorated due to a combination of infection and viral illness."

Aruna's body was transported to S?o Paulo, where the family lives, on December 26, and the family held a funeral.

Meanwhile, conjoined twins are born physically attached due to either a delay in embryonic division or incomplete separation of the embryo. It is estimated that conjoined twins occur in about 1 out of every 200,000 births worldwide. Among these, approximately 40 to 60 percent are stillborn, and about 35 percent die within a day after birth.