Baby saved from 'parasitic' leg

The second "twin" took the form of an extra limb

Chinese surgeons have saved a baby girl born with the leg of an undeveloped twin joined to her back.

Conjoined twins are extremely rare, but occasionally, one of the twins fails to develop properly, lacks vital organs, and is dependent on the other to live.

In this case, the twin took the form of a tail-like leg protruding upwards from the hip - and its demands for nutrients were slowly killing its sister.

Doctors in Beijing successfully separated them in a six-hour operation.

The 14-month-old girl, called Qing Qing, had been abandoned on the streets of Beijing in March and adopted by a woman farmer.

She was in a dangerous condition, and even faced death, had we not operated in time Yu Xing, surgeon, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing

A team of four surgeons, plus anaesthetists and specialist nurses oversaw the operation.

Surgeon Yu Xing told Reuters: "The operation was smooth and satisfactory.

"She was in a dangerous condition, and even faced death, had we not operated in time.

"After the operation, she can lie down - we hope she can sit in the near future.

"If her nervous system recovers well, and some other small operations succeed, she can even walk some day."

Failed split

Identical twins are formed when a single embryo splits shortly after conception.

However, conjoined twins - sometimes referred to as Siamese twins - are formed when something goes wrong during the splitting process.

This can result in two fully-functional babies joined at some point - if the twins are joined at the abdomen, they may share certain organs such as the liver or sections of the bowel.

However, occasionally, one of the twins will fail to develop properly, and play a parasitic role, only surviving because of the efforts of the organs in the other.

The strain of supporting more than one body can be very dangerous for the complete twin.

The Attard twins from Malta, separated in a marathon operation at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester, were in this situation - only one of them could possibly survive a separation.

In rarer cases yet, such as the Chinese one, the second "twin" has hardly developed at all, lacking all major organs including a brain.