Manar Maged
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Manar Maged (March 30, 2004 – March 25, 2006) was an Egyptian girl, born with an extremely rare medical condition called craniopagus parasiticus: a type of conjoined twin, where the twins are attached at the head and one fails to develop completely in the womb, becoming completely dependent upon the other.
Manar’s twin, Islaam, could smile, blink, cry, and tried to suckle [1]. Islaam was attached at an angle and displayed signs of independent consciousness, but never developed a body (except a small remnant), or lungs and heart, and instead was dependent on oxygen and nutrients provided by Manar. The case illustrates that there is a continuum from craniopagus parasiticus to the phenomena of the conjoined twin.
In February 2005, when Manar's heart began to fail, due to the additional demand of supplying blood to Islaam, the need to separate the twins became more urgent.
On 19 February 2005, Manar underwent a thirteen-hour operation in Benha, Egypt, to remove her twin. The operation was successful, and by 28 May she had recovered enough to go home. Her twin, who had been named Islaam, died on the operating table when the separation was carried out, and was buried by her family.
Manar appeared with her mother on Oprah in 2005, along with the surgical team who had carried out the operation. Her story has since been featured in a special program on the Discovery Health Channel, Born with Two Heads, which aired on 2 October 2005, and on British television in the Channel 4 series Bodyshock, aired on 20 February 2006.
Manar died following a severe brain infection on (March 25, 2006), 13 months after her successful operation. She is survived by another healthy twin sister, Noora. [2]
There had been one recent case, in December 2003, of another girl, Rebeca Martínez, born with craniopagus parasiticus, who survived an operation to separate her from her twin. However, Rebeca died shortly afterwards from blood loss. Doctors in Egypt studied the evidence of Rebeca's operation to assist with their own surgery.
