Veena and Vani: Hyderabad’s conjoined twins living quiet lives amid surgical risks

Unlike Abby and Brittany, who are joined at the torso region, Veena and Vani are joined at the head region. In fact, Veena and Vani share parts of the brain and neurological veins, which are vital for their functioning.

Hyderabad: While the conjoined twins of Abby and Brittany Hensel from the United States found inner strength to share intricate details of how their anatomy works, back home in Hyderabad, the renowned conjoined twins of Veena and Vani are leading relatively quieter lives at the State Home in Ameerpet.

They were born in October, 2003, and on multiple occasions, the possibility of separation surgery was explored before top surgeons from across the World decided not to risk their lives, as there were chances of death on the operation table.

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Unlike Abby and Brittany, who are joined at the torso region, Veena and Vani are joined at the head region. In fact, Veena and Vani share parts of the brain and neurological veins, which are vital for their functioning.

Due to intricate attachment in the brain region, multiple surgeons, including a committee of senior doctors from All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), made it clear that a separation surgery was dangerous and very risky for both of them.

The twins first shot into fame way back in 2004, when an attempt was made to separate them through a minor surgery at Guntur General Hospital. Later, with the support of successive State governments, multiple experts including Dr Owase Jeelani and Dr David Dunway from UK, Dr Ashish Mehta from Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, and renowned surgeon from Singapore, Dr Keith Goh made multiple attempts to study the medical condition.

All of the top surgeons backed-off at the last minute because of the high risk that was involved in conducting the separation surgery.