NewsAugust 19, 2002
Conjoined twin more alert after surgery
LOS ANGELES -- One of the conjoined Guatemalan twins separated in a 22-hour operation grew more alert Sunday as she continued to recover from a second follow-up surgery. Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez, who underwent more than three hours of surgery Friday, was breathing with a ventilator and remained under moderate sedation, a UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital spokesman said. Both she and her sister, Maria de Jesus, remained in serious but stable condition...
LOS ANGELES -- One of the conjoined Guatemalan twins separated in a 22-hour operation grew more alert Sunday as she continued to recover from a second follow-up surgery.
Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez, who underwent more than three hours of surgery Friday, was breathing with a ventilator and remained under moderate sedation, a UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital spokesman said. Both she and her sister, Maria de Jesus, remained in serious but stable condition.
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Surgeons drained an accumulation of blood that doctors believed may have been contributing to a bacterial infection in the lining of Maria Teresa's brain.
She underwent five hours of surgery for a similar buildup of blood after the 1-year-olds were separated Aug. 6. Maria de Jesus has not required follow-up surgery.
The twins were born joined at the head in rural Guatemala. Before their operation, they shared bone and blood vessels but had separate brains.
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