The Hanoi Times - o­ne week after he and his brother were split from each other, the baby named Co has recovered. He will leave the hospital today to return home to his mother. The other boy, named Cu, will undergo a heart operation next week

The conjoined twins were born in the central province of Nghe An o­n December 2 and they have been hospitalised at the Hanoi-based Central Pediatrics Hospital for over 20 days.

Doctors of the Hanoi-based Central Pediatrics Hospital successfully separated .A member of the operation group, Doctor Le Hong Ky, said the two boys stuck together at their stomachs and doctors separated the conjoined breastbone, muscles, and navel.

During the operation, doctors said that o­ne of the babies suffered a narrowed duodenum owning to a stomach ligament. Doctors cut off the ligament to free the duodenum. The baby’s digestive system was then cleared.

The other boy, who suffers heart disease, may have a heart operation next week.

The twins were born at the abdomen in the Quynh Luu District Hospital, in the central Nghe An Province. Both have a congenial heart malformation.

Their father, Nguyen Van Loi, said an ultrasound at Quynh Luu Hospital had shown that his wife, Dam Thi Chuyen, was pregnant with twins. But their conjoining had not been identified at the time of the ultrasound. Both parents and their nine year-old daughter are in sound health and the family has no history of hereditary disease.

Pediatricians from the National Pediatrics Hospital had previously separated conjoined twins Nghia and Dan, and Cuc and An, both sucessfully.

More than 10 sets of conjoined twins have undergone surgery in Vietnam.The babies were conjoined at their stomachs. o­ne baby suffered from serious heart disease while the other suffered from a stuck digestive system.

The two babies were separated o­n December 17.