Manar was born with a rare condition

Doctors have operated successfully to remove a second head from a 10-month-old baby.

Manar Maged was originally one of conjoined identical twins, but her sister failed to develop in the womb .

As a result she was born with a second head attached to her own - a condition known as craniopagus parasiticus .

Manar, who was otherwise healthy, underwent a 13-hour operation at Benha Children's Hospital, Cairo, on Saturday. She is reported to be stable.

Doctors said the second head was capable of smiling and blinking - but not of independent life.

The weight of it meant that although Manar developed normally, she could not sit or crawl.

A 13-strong team operated on Manar, separating her brain from the conjoined organ in small stages.

Surgery was complex, as the conjoined head shared a blood vessel with Manar's brain.

The surgeons had to cut off the blood supply to Manar's head without triggering a potentially fatal surge of blood to Manar's heart.

Following surgery, Manar could move all four limbs and showed no signs of paralysis .

She is breathing normally and has a normal heartbeat and blood pressure.

However, Dr Abla al-Alfi, senior consultant at the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, said there was concern about the baby's liver, which had not functioned normally since the surgery.

Manar is likely to remain in intensive care for another week while doctors carefully monitor her progress.

Similar surgery was attempted on a girl in the Dominican Republic last year. However, the child died.

(BBC)

womb: a hollow muscular organ in the pelvic cavity of females（子宮）

craniopagus parasiticus :（頭顱連胎寄生癥）

paralysis: loss of the ability to move a body part（癱瘓）