Conjoined (Siamese) twins in Zambia

Abstract

The university Teaching hospital is the main referral centre for Zambia a country that  has a population of over 11 million people. Fourteen sets of conjoined twins have been  seen between 1970 and 1999. Of these fourteen sets of twins, three cases were  stillborn (21.43%). The remaining 11 (78.57%) sets were brought in alive. Five (35.71%) of these eleven sets had multiple congenital abnormalities; and were not  subjected to operation. All five died within a period of two weeks. Six (42.86%) sets were successfully separated. An attempt has been made to establish the incidence of conjoined twins in Zambia. Basic principles of management have been suggested and constraints likely to be encountered in a third world country like Zambia have been  discussed.

Key words: Conjoined, Siamese and twins