Arthur Greene
A pair of twins in Brazil who were conjoined at the brain have been successfully separated by a team of surgeons who directed the operation from London using virtual reality.
Arthur and Bernardo Lima were born almost four years ago with the tops of their heads attached to one another. Their brains were conjoined and neither child could stand up or look at his brother’s face.
However, seven surgeries later and a total of over 33 hours under the knife, they will be able to look one another in the eye for the first time.
At three years old, Arthur and Bernardo are the oldest craniopagus twins – that is, conjoined at the brain – to be successfully separated
Under the direction of paediatric surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani, who’s based in London, Arthur and Bernardo were separated and are currently beginning a six-month rehabilitation process in Rio de Janeiro.
The team tasked with separating the twins spent months trialling the operation using cutting-edge virtual reality technology, a process which Jeelani described as “space age stuff”.
Jeelani told the BBC that for the first time ever surgeons in two different countries were able to work on the same procedure by wearing headsets and operating in a “virtual reality room”.
“The successful separation of Bernardo and Arthur is a remarkable achievement by the team in Rio and a fantastic example of why the work of Gemini Untwined is so valuable,” he said.
Gemini Untwined is a charity which was founded in 2018 by Jeelani himself. Arthur and Bernardo’s operation is the sixth one Jeelani has completed with the charity, following operations on conjoined twins in Pakistan, Sudan, Israel and Turkey.
“Not only have we provided a new future for the boys and their family, we have equipped the local team with the capabilities and confidence to undertake such complex work successfully again in the future.”
