Mateus, the second of the conjoined twins born in Goiânia, died on Thursday after an emergency separation surgery. The procedure was performed hours after his brother Marcos's death, but Mateus did not survive a cardiac arrest in the ICU. The case involved a medical team at a state hospital in Goiás.
The conjoined twins Marcos and Mateus, born at 34 weeks gestation in Goiânia, were ischiopagus conjoined, joined at the hip and sharing the thorax, abdomen, and three legs. Their 22-year-old mother, from Canarana in Mato Grosso, had an uneventful prenatal care at the Hospital Estadual da Mulher Dr. Jurandir do Nascimento (HEMU).
On Thursday (8/1), Marcos suffered four cardiac arrests and died. Pediatric surgeon Zacharias Calil reported: “When I arrived in the morning, the twin was already in cardiac arrest. We tried to reverse it, but there was no success. The other was still awake, and that's when we decided to perform the emergency separation surgery, hoping to save his life”.
The operation, deemed extremely complex, involved separating the liver, part of the intestine, hip, and Mateus's right leg. Calil explained: “We succeeded in the separation, but it was very difficult [...] We also used the skin from the other twin for closure. Unfortunately, in the ICU, Mateus had a cardiac arrest and did not survive”.
Such procedures typically occur in children over one year old due to anatomical complexity. The Goiás Health Secretariat and HEMU issued a statement lamenting the deaths and expressing solidarity with the family, noting the intensive care provided since birth.
