Posted on Tue, Jul. 08, 2003
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/photos/6255245.htmSurgeons Separate Iranian Twins, One Dies
D'ARCY DORAN
Associated Press
SINGAPORE - Neurosurgeons finished separating 29-year-old Iranian twins joined at the head Tuesday after two days of delicate surgery, but one of the sisters died shortly after parting from her sibling.
The other twin was in critical condition and faced at least 24 hours more surgery, said hospital spokesman Dr. Prem Kumar.
"As the separation was coming to a close, a lot of blood was lost. The twins were subsequently in a critical state," he added.
Doctor were unable to stabilize the condition of Ladan Bijani and her condition worsened, he said.
Raffles hospital in Singapore announced her death minutes later.
Her sister, Laleh, was critically ill. "Doctors are still trying to stabilize her," Kumar said.
Plastic surgeons will try to graft tissue taken from Laleh's thigh to cover her brain to protect it, Kumar said.
The risky, marathon separation procedure began about 10 p.m. EDT Saturday. Before the operation, doctors had warned that the surgery could kill one or both of the twins, or leave them brain-dead.
The brains of Ladan and Laleh Bijani were separate, but were nonetheless stuck together after years lying alongside each other.
News of Ladan's death came less than an hour after Kumar announced the twins had been separated, adding: "We should pray very hard for them."
...snip
The sisters were born into a poor family of 11 children in Firouzabad, southern Iran, but grew up in Tehran under doctors' care.
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Editor's Note: Emma Ross, an AP medical writer, contributed to this story from London; AP writer Ali Akbar Dareini contributed from Tehran.
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On the Net:
Raffles Hospital:
http://www.raffleshospital.comJohns Hopkins Medicine:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org 
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