Letter to the Editor: Reply: Good News From Saudi Arabia: Successful Separation Of Conjoint Twins

摘要

It is good of you to show interest in the Polish twin's separation report. It was intended to announce this happy story of compassion and international cooperation creating a better future for these twins. The modern name of this phenomenon is “conjoint twins”. There are many types of conjoint twins and I refer you the following references [2,3,4] There is no similarity between any twins except generally from site of connection let it be the head, the thorax, and the pelvis. There would be also parasitic organs like another head without body or third leg or half a body. That's why most of these conditions would be incompatible with life. Those who reach medical attention are the lucky few. Ethically it would be better to separate these twins so they can lead respectable productive lifes. 'Siamese twins' are like the famous twins Eng and Chang, born in 1811 to a hard-working peasant family. The twins were discovered in 1824 by Robert Hunter, then living on the river in Bangkok. “His eye was caught by a strange object moving through the water,” says one account by the American missionary Dan Beach Bradley. “It was a creature that appeared to have two heads, four arms and four legs, all of which were moving in perfect harmony. As Mr. Hunter watched, the object climbed into a nearby boat, and to his amazement he realized that he had been looking at two small boys who were joined together at the chest”. [5] Hunter saw the commercial possibilities of exhibiting Eng and Chang and eventually persuaded both their mother and the Thai authorities to let them be taken abroad. They left on April 1, 1829 and never returned to their native land Siam.Over the next 45 years, the boys traveled extensively appearing before enthusiastic crowds under various management, including that of the great showman P.T. Barnum. During this time they learned to speak and write English fluently and generally impressed all who met them with their charm and intelligence not to mention the extraordinary coordination with which they performed athletic tricks. Medical studies were made and several proposals were made to sever the thick band of flesh that joined them, but these were never attempted because of the unknown dangers involved.