FORT WORTH — Cook Children’s Medical Center has announced that the hospital has successfully performed its first-ever separation surgery for conjoined twins. The 11-hour long procedure took place on Monday, Jan. 23.
It took a team of 25 medical professionals — including six surgeons — to separate sisters Amie Lynn and Jamie Lynn.
“Our team at Cook Children’s was honored to bring together [our] collective expertise in treating high-risk infants and conducting complex surgery to help Amie Lynn and Jamie Lynn reach this incredible milestone,” said Jose Iglesias, Medical Director of Pediatric Surgery, in a statement.
The girls were born prematurely on Oct. 3, 2022. Since their birth, physicians have worked closely to prepare a delivery and postnatal game plan. The team for the procedure was comprised of medical experts from across multiple specialties to collaborate on this surgery.
“The working relationship between the whole team that’s made possible by the closer relationship of hospitals allows us to be the center that can provide this type of highly advanced service,” said Bannie Tabor, Medical Director and Maternal Fetal Specialist, in a statement. “Families don’t have to go halfway across the state or halfway across the country or even to Dallas for care.”
Conjoined twins are very rare. It occurs in about one in 200,000 live births. Each year, only five to eight conjoined twins worldwide survive the first few days after birth. Amie Lynn and Jamie Lynn were joined from the lower part of the breastbone to their bellybutton and shared a liver.
To achieve this groundbreaking surgery, the Cook Children’s Medical Center team dedicated months to the planning and collaboration of the separation. The team ran through multiple simulations of the surgery and prepared for multiple scenarios and outcomes.
In the coming weeks and months, Amie Lynn and Jamie Lynn will continue to receive care from Cook Children’s medical Center’s neonatology and NICU teams, focusing on their healing and continued growth and development.
“Our promise to this community and every family who seeks care under our blue peaks is to do everything for the child, and I’m so grateful this family trusted us to do everything we could to help change their girls’ future,” said Rick W. Merrill, President and CEO of Cook Children’s Medical Health System. “This is a magical moment in Cook Children’s history and really showcases the expertise of our medical staff and the highly advanced care we have to offer children and families in our community, state and all across the country.”
You can find more information on Amie Lynn and Jamie Lynn and the medical team here.