Conjoined Twins Recovering From Surgery

Rare side-by-side conjoined twins remained on a ventilator in critical but stable condition Friday after undergoing surgery to correct potentially fatal digestive and heart defects.

The surgery took place Thursday at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital after doctors discussed with the family whether to give the newborn sisters comfort care only, which could lead to natural death, or proceed with surgery, followed by consideration of surgical separation later on.

The family opted for surgery, the hospital said in a statement released Friday in lieu of a formal briefing. The total time of surgery was 4 hours, 15 minutes, and the girls were back in the neonatal intensive care unit Thursday evening.

Gabrielle and Micheala Garcia, born Tuesday, are joined side-by-side below the waist and share two legs and several critical organs.

Gabrielle first underwent surgical correction of an upper digestive tract blockage, along with a related defect that connects the esophagus, used for eating, with the trachea, which is used for breathing. Untreated, that could cause stomach acid to be kicked back into her lungs.

Once doctors had repaired her digestive problem and the twins were stable, the surgical team proceeded with fixing Micheala’s heart vessel problem.

Micheala suffered from a narrowing of the aorta, a major heart vessel, which causes high blood pressure and would lead to heart failure if untreated.

Their parents--Karen Crowe, 21, and Angel Garcia, 26, of Barstow--learned the twins were conjoined after a sonogram was performed at 13 1/2 weeks, but never considered terminating the pregnancy.