Benjamin Muindi
11 April 2008
Nairobi — The Kwale Siamese twins share a faulty heart.
Doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital said there was a possibility that the babies, born last Sunday at Msambweni General Hospital, could also be sharing other organs such as the liver.
"The actual findings are that both babies have faulty hearts. Baby A's (named Aziza) has four chambers with holes in them while B's (Amina) is rudimentary, meaning that it is not developed, and that it has to depend on A," said Dr James Munene, a paediatric cardiovascular surgeon in the team treating the babies.
Complex
Although the chances of survival for both babies cannot be established at the moment, doctors say they are faced with a very complex situation.
"In such situations, survival will be determined by the number of organs they share.
"If they share the liver, it will become very difficult to keep both of them alive," said Dr Munene.
The twins, who were flown to Nairobi from Mombasa, are now six days old.
KNH doctors Thursday expressed fear that the twins shared the liver and blood vessels near the heart.
Dr Fred Kambuni, a paediatric surgeon, established that the twins were not sharing the intestines as they were feeding separately and passing stool normally.
Their mother, Mrs Khadija Bakari, gave birth to her first baby at the age of 12. She now has six other children.
The 28-year-old woman says that she did not have any abnormalities during this pregnancy even when the doctors told her she was expecting twins.
Witchcraft
Presenting gifts to her, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, Mrs Rachel Dzombo dismissed stories that Siamese twins were a result of witchcraft and other backward cultural practices. She said that doctors needed to explain to Mrs Bakari how such situations occur.
She gave Sh10,000 and household essentials to Mrs Bakari's family.
This case has attracted interest from all over the world and medical practitioners from Egypt and London have been in touch with the hospital with offers of assistance.
"We want to have a final diagnosis so as to determine the kind of assistance we will need," said Dr Jotham Micheni, the chief executive officer at KNH.
Cardiovascular
Subsidised cardiovascular operations at the hospital costs about Sh250,000.
It is estimated that it will cost about Sh2 million to perform the delicate operation on the twins.
Dr Micheni appealed to those wishing to assist to get in touch with the hospital administration.
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