<p>The two-year-old Bangladeshi orphans, Trishna and Krishna, share parts of their skull, brain tissue and blood flow.<br /><br />Doctors expected the operation, which began on Monday morning, to take at least 16 hours, with a team of 16 surgeons and nurses.<br />“I am cautiously optimistic,” plastic surgeon Tony Holmes said after the surgery began.<br />Holmes said the girls were sedated on Sunday night and that an angiogram was performed to take a final look at the blood vessels before the operation. Doctors were first working to remove the bone at the back half of the girls’ heads. “It is a stressful time for any group of surgeons with this sort of case,” Holmes told reporters. <br />“They only come along really once in a lifetime and I think everybody has been on tenterhooks. We have had a few ups and downs with these children because of medical problems,” Holmes said.<br /><br />The girls were brought to Australia in 2007 by the Children First Foundation and have already had several operations in preparation for separation. Doctors say the chance of a successful separation is 25 per cent. There is a 50 per cent chance that the girls will suffer brain damage and a 25 per cent chance one of the sisters will die.</p>
<p>The two-year-old Bangladeshi orphans, Trishna and Krishna, share parts of their skull, brain tissue and blood flow.<br /><br />Doctors expected the operation, which began on Monday morning, to take at least 16 hours, with a team of 16 surgeons and nurses.<br />“I am cautiously optimistic,” plastic surgeon Tony Holmes said after the surgery began.<br />Holmes said the girls were sedated on Sunday night and that an angiogram was performed to take a final look at the blood vessels before the operation. Doctors were first working to remove the bone at the back half of the girls’ heads. “It is a stressful time for any group of surgeons with this sort of case,” Holmes told reporters. <br />“They only come along really once in a lifetime and I think everybody has been on tenterhooks. We have had a few ups and downs with these children because of medical problems,” Holmes said.<br /><br />The girls were brought to Australia in 2007 by the Children First Foundation and have already had several operations in preparation for separation. Doctors say the chance of a successful separation is 25 per cent. There is a 50 per cent chance that the girls will suffer brain damage and a 25 per cent chance one of the sisters will die.</p>
