Jaga, Kalia return to Odisha 2 years after successful

Craniopagus twins - Jaga and Kalia who were separated successfully at the AIIMS in New Delhi, returned to Odisha on Saturday after about two years and were immediately rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack.

The twins are in good health, a senior doctor from AIIMS who accompanied them from Delhi said.

The two boys were discharged from AIIMS, Delhi on Friday and reached Cuttack by train on Saturday.

They underwent a rarest of the rare surgery at the Delhi hospital in September 2017 to separate them at their heads which was followed by rigorous post operative management for two years.

Following the surgery Jaga's condition improved rapidly but Kalia was found to be suffering from certain deficiencies.

The Cuttack Hospital campus was barricaded and fortified as a large number of curious onlookers gathered there to have a glimpse of the twins.

The twins were admitted to a special cabin set up for them at SCBMCH, a senior health department official said.

A 14-member team of doctors along with paramedics has been formed to continue with the rehabilitation care of the twins as per the advice of the AIIMS doctors, he said.

"The children are in good health. Jaga is fine and Kalia's condition remains as it is. The train journey appears to have made no impact on their health condition," Dr Girija Rath, the doctor from New Delhi AIIMS told PTI.

Dr Rath, a professor of neuro anaesthesiology at the Delhi hospital, had played a major role in their surgery.

A team of doctors from the New Delhi hospital have arrived with the twins and hospital sources said some of its members will stay back for some days for their treatment.

"A special ward is ready with all necessary facilities for the twins and a team of doctors and paramedics have been assigned to take care of them", the Cuttack Hospital superintendent C B K Mohanty said.

The Odisha government had sanctioned Rs one crore for the surgery of the twins, who hail from Kandhamal district.

Their father Bhuyan Kandar said, "We are grateful to the Odisha chief minister, the government of India, doctors of AIIMS, New Delhi and well-wishers. We hope that the twins will recover at SCBMCH with the blessings and cooperation of all".

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who had visited the twins at the New Delhi hospital had on Friday said the condition of the twins when they were conjoined was extremely rare condition seen in one in 25 lakh live births.

Any kind of surgical intervention in such a condition has 75-80 per cent risk to life to one or both the children, he had said.

The separation of their heads took place in two stages. The first stage surgery on August 28, 2017, which lasted for long 25 hours involved creation of a venous bypass on Kalia and partial brain separation from Jaga.

The final separation of the children was done on October 25 in an operation which lasted for 20 hours. Skin grafting and minor neurosurgical procedures were performed on them to cover skin defects over the next few months.

During the final surgery Jaga had suffered a cardiac arrest but was successfully revived after 15 minutes. The two children stayed in the private ward of AIIMS's neurosciences centre for the last two years.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Saturday thanked Harsh Vardhan for the successful treatment of the separated twins.

"Thank you @drharshvardhan ji and the wonderful doctors at #AIIMS who worked relentlessly towards post-separation surgery recovery of the conjoined twins Jaga-Kalia. In #Odisha, we will ensure that the miracle children recover fully and have a normal and happy childhood," Patnaik said in his twitter handle.