Egypt 'two-head' baby breathing without ventilator

An Egyptian baby which underwent surgery last month to remove the head of an underdeveloped twin was Monday breathing without a ventilator for the first time since the operation, one of her doctors said.

Manar Maged, who is now 11 months old, was born with craniopagus parasiticus, a very rare condition, which left her attached by the skull to the head of her underdeveloped twin.

The twin could blink and smile but was not capable of independent life. "Manar is now in a stable condition and is doing great without the ventilator," said Abla el-Alfy, a consultant in pediatric intensive care at the Benha Children's Hospital north of Cairo.

Alfy told AMN Health that Manar would be under observation for the next two days in the hospital's intensive care unit to ensure that her breathing remains normal without the ventilator.

Friday, Manar underwent a second operation to extract excess fluid from her brain, to stop convulsions and an enlargement of the skull.

Alfy said Manar would leave intensive care soon. She did not give further details.

"After leaving intensive care we will transfer her to the higher dependency unit, where she will have contact with her mother ... and the mother will be trained to handle her," Alfy said.

Craniopagus parasiticus occurs when an embryo begins to split into identical twins but does not complete the process. One of the conjoined twins then fails to develop fully.

Doctors have said Manar's case is extremely rare and her survival of the operation was a big achievement.