Two Siamese Sisters Successfully Separated: Record-Breaking 12-Hour Surgery at Gaslini

Genoa – A surgical marathon lasting over 12 hours, a multidisciplinary team composed of 50 professionals including doctors, nurses and technicians, and a very delicate objective: to separate two conjoined twins joined thoraco-abdominally

. The operation, performed last June 6th at the Gaslini Pediatric Hospital in GenoVa, was successful, giving the two little patients, born in Burkina Faso in December 2024, the possibility of an independent future.

The girls shared part of the liver and the pericardium, making the operation extremely complex. They arrived in Italy last May 20 thanks to the association Una Voce per Padre Pio, and were included in a highly specialized health care program for foreign citizens in fragile conditions, promoted by the Liguria Region in collaboration with the association Patrons of the World's Children Hospitals.

“Gaslini took charge of the twins from their arrival at Malpensa airport,” explained the institute’s medical director, Raffaele Spiazzi. “After a careful phase of multidisciplinary study, clinical simulations and logistical planning, we completed the operation, which involved over 50 of the best specialists in our facility and external consultants in liver surgery and reconstructive plastic surgery.”

According to Spiazzi, “Gaslini’s mission is to provide children, especially in such rare and complex cases, with the best of the skills in an environment built to their measure. The quality of our network of collaborations, combined with the professionalism of our staff, can really make the difference”.

The girls' conditions, carefully monitored, are stable. Now a new phase opens for them, made of checks, rehabilitation and clinical support, but also of hope.