Conjoined Twins:
In the summer of 2002, BMI undertook a most unusual and exciting case - the separation of conjoined twins from Guatemala, Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej Alvarez. They were craniopagus twins – joined at the head – and were separated at UCLA on August 6 in a challenging operation. BMI contributed three Biomodels to UCLA for the girls. UCLA and Healing the Children are donating all of the surgical and medical care.

This project pushed the limits of modeling technology in that surgeons wanted both bone (hard tissue) and blood vessels (soft tissue) reproduced together in each Biomodel. One Biomodel was made of each of the twins' skulls, which could be studied separately or combined to provide the surgical team with a replica of the conjoined anatomy. The third Biomodel showed the region where the twins were joined, enabling the surgeons to easily see the architecture of arteries and veins.

The surgical team, headed by Drs. Henry Kawamoto and Jorge Lazareff, included more than 50 medical professionals. BMI’s Biomodels facilitated communication among the members of the team. The plastic surgeons used the Biomodels to plan the separation of the skulls and how to cut skin flaps to cover the girls’ brains. The neurosurgeons used Biomodels in planning the delicate reconstruction of the blood vessels so that each girl ended up with her own complete circulation. Biomodels played a key role in the rehearsal of the surgery and were taken into the OR for consultation during the procedure itself. Dr. Kawamoto felt that the Biomodels had been so valuable that he even called BMI the same day he completed the 23- hour operation.

Maria Theresa and Maria del Jesus are living at home with their family, and growing to be two beautiful, happy children babbling, eating and playing quite normally.