Egyptian conjoined twins who were separated during major surgery have regained consciousness and have movement in their limbs, say doctors.
Dr James Thomas, director of critical care at the Children's Medical Center in Dallas where two-year-old Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim were separated on Sunday said both boys were showing signs of recovery.
"Both now open their eyes when spoken to, and they appear to be searching out the voice calling their name," he said.
Mohamed, known as "the rascal" for his mischievous behaviour, has recovered from the 34-hour operation more quickly than his brother.
Waking moments
The boys had showed signs of fever and were restarted on a course of antibiotics. Infection can be life-threatening in the post-operative period.
MEDICAL HISTORY
A team of five neurosurgeons separated their shared brain material and the shared circulatory systems that feed blood to their brains.
Mohamed is due to undergo surgery on Saturday as doctors examine a skin graft on his temple that was put in place to help repair the wounds from surgery.
Doctors say they will take the boys off mechanical ventilators that are aiding their breathing in the next few days.
The boys are currently lying in separate rooms on beds designed to rotate their bodies so that they do not develop bed sores.
In their waking moments, they try to focus on objects in their rooms.
The boys were born in a town 500 miles (800km) south of Cairo in 2001.
Twins conjoined at the head account for about one of every 2.5 million births and about 2% of all conjoined births.
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©