Conjoined baby twin girls survive complex 26-hour operation to separate them that was a world first

Conjoined twins who were connected at the chest and abdomen have been separated after an operation that has never before been successfully attempted.

Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata were born in Texas last April and were welcomed by parents Elysse and John Eric.

The couple, from Lubbock, were told that their twin girls would be conjoined and when they were born it was found their shared the same chest wall, lungs, pericardial sac (the lining of the heart), diaphragm, liver, intestines, colon and pelvis.

Earlier this month, a team of more than 26 clinicians, including 12 surgeons, six anesthesiologists and eight surgical nurses at the Texas Children's Hospital operated to separate the 10-month-olds.

The 26-hour surgery was the first time twins conjoined at the chest and abdomen in this way had been separated successfully.

Culled