zimmy61

BANGALORE, India (CNN ) -- Surgeons in India said a mammoth 40-hour operation on a two-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs was going according to plan.



Lakshmi, pictured with her mother prior to surgery.

"So far, so good," Dr. Sharan Patil, the head surgeon, told reporters after 10 hours of surgery to separate Lakshmi Tatma from her "parasitic twin."

The task began early Tuesday in the southern Indian city of Bangalore and is expected to go on through the night.

Patil told reporters the team of 30 surgeons had begun the process of severing Lakshmi from her conjoined twin, which stopped developing in the mother's womb and has a torso and limbs but no head.

He said the spinal cord had been successfully separated and that body tissues vital for the girl's survival had been isolated and retained.

Patil said orthopedic surgeons would now begin the painstaking task of separating fused bones connecting the girl to her twin. He said Lakshmi was in a stable condition and was responding well to the surgery. Watch images of Lakshmi as she prepares for surgery ».

When Lakshmi was born into a poor, rural Indian family, villagers in the remote settlement of Rampur Kodar Katti in the northern state of Bihar believed she was sacred. As news of her birth spread, locals queued for a blessing from the baby.

Her parents, Shambhu and Poonam Tatma, named the girl after the Hindu goddess of wealth who has four arms. However, they were forced to keep her in hiding after they were approached by men offering money in exchange for putting their daughter in a circus.

The couple, who earn just $1 a day as casual laborers, were keen for her to have the operation but were unable to pay for the rare procedure, which has never before been performed in India.

Many villagers, however, remain opposed to surgery and are planning to erect a temple to Lakshmi, who they still revere as sacred.

After Patil visited the girl in her village from Narayana Health City hospital in Bangalore, the hospital's foundation agreed to fund the $200,000 operation.

The non-stop procedure will go on through the night with surgeons working eight-hour shifts to separate her spinal column and kidney from that of her twin.


The operation is being conducted by specialists in pediatrics, neurosurgery, orthopedics and plastic surgery. Without it, doctors say, Lakshmi would be unlikely to survive beyond early adolescence.

Her parents are being given regular updates but are not allowed to see their daughter during the operation

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/06...irl/index.html

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Ouroboros

Won't Shiva be pissed when he find out they removes his daughter's extra limbs.

DannyBoy

You know it's odd, for whatever reason I was expecting a rather disfigured, fairly ugly child. But take a look at that lovely smiley and pretty face. I hope it all works out for her, such an ailment in this day and age wouldn't bode well for her adult life.

The_Heretic

I'm surrpised Spider Girl didn't come up.

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DannyBoy

LOL, damn, that is almost nasty dude . Disgracefully funny though lol. The poor girl, my heart would be broken for her but she doesn't appear to be bothered by it. How perculiar.

Free Parking

The_Heretic

That's gotta complicate bathroom breaks.

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"Enough!!" -so rang Barack Obama's voice off the walls of Mile High Stadium

Sean

They probably think she's the Genish or something.

Spider was the first thing I thought too; too funny.

The_Heretic

Not Genish, but Lakshmi the god of wealth. Some people are just dense, I guess.

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"Enough!!" -so rang Barack Obama's voice off the walls of Mile High Stadium

zimmy61

Surgery on eight-limbed girl declared success
GAVIN RABINOWITZ

Associated Press

November 7, 2007 at 2:51 AM EST

BANGALORE, India — Doctors in India completed a gruelling 24-hour operation Wednesday on a girl born with four arms and four legs, and surgeons said the 2-year-old — revered by many as a reincarnated goddess — has a chance at a normal life.

The surgery went "wonderfully well," said Dr. Sharan Patil who led a team of more than 30 surgeons at a hospital in the southern city of Bangalore that performed the marathon procedure to remove the child's extra limbs, salvage her organs and rebuild her pelvis area.

Doctors say the operation will give Lakshmi, a girl from rural northern India, a chance to start life again after two years in which her parents hid her from deeply superstitious villagers — who alternately revered her as a Hindu deity and tried to buy her for a circus.

"This girl can now lead as good a life as anyone else," Dr. Patil said.

Indian girl's surgery successful

Doctors say a grueling, 24-hour-long operation to remove the extra limbs of an Indian girl born with four arms and four legs was successful



Eight-limbed 'goddess' undergoes surgery
Lakshmi was born joined at the pelvis to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in the mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and some other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.

"This is a very rare occurrence," said pediatric surgeon Dr. Doug Miniati at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Miniati, who was not involved in the surgery, said it was extremely complicated but her chances of survival were greater because she had not been joined with the other fetus at the heart or brain.

The doctors worked through the night to remove the extra limbs and organs. By midnight, a team of neurologists had separated the fused spines while orthopedic surgeons removed most of the "parasite," carefully identifying which organs and internal structures belonged to the girl, Dr. Patil said.

Then began the difficult job of reconstructing the girl's lower body.

The operation included transplanting a good kidney into Lakshmi from the twin. The team also used tissue from the twin to help rebuild the pelvic area, one of the most complicated parts of the surgery, said Dr. Patil.

"We were able to bring the pelvic bones together successfully, which takes away the need for another procedure," Dr. Patil said.

However, Lakshmi will need more treatment and possible surgery for clubbed feet before she will be able to walk, he added.

Lakshmi's parents, who were expected to see the girl later Wednesday, said they were very relieved.

"It will be great to see our daughter have a normal body," her father Shambhu, who only goes by one name, told reporters. "We were worried for her future."

Children born with deformities in deeply traditional rural parts of India, like Lakshmi's remote village in the northern state of Bihar, are often viewed as reincarnated gods.

The young girl is no different — she is named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth.

"Everybody considers her a goddess at our village," said her father.

However, some wanted to make money from Lakshmi. Her parents said they kept her in hiding after a circus apparently tried to buy her.

Doctors at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore estimated the surgery cost $625,000 (U.S.), but they did it for free because the girl's family could not afford it.

"We are very grateful to all the doctors for seeing our plight and deciding to help us," Shambhu said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...andHealth/home

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