Anastasia and Tatiana Dogaru are joined at the head, and doctors at Rainbow have threaded a series of hair thin coils into a blood vessel they share. Rainbow Babies and Children's Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Nathan Levitan says the coils will help the girls develop independent circulation. He says the procedure was a big accomplishment for both the twins and the hospital.
Nathan Levitan: This a highly innovative procedure and it was successful. And to our knowledge this was the first time that such a procedure has ever been preformed to alternate the venus circulation of conjoined twins.
Levitan says Rainbow's doctors will plan to perform the procedure again on another blood vessel the girls share in the coming weeks. The twins and their family came to the United States from Italy two years ago with the hope of eventually being separated. Doctors says if they're not separated their chance of living past age ten is only 10%. Lisa Ann Pinkerton, 90.3.