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News release: Colorado - Denver/BoulderDecember 17, 2001 For more information, call: Kaiser Permanente team separated conjoined twins Denver, CO – A team of doctors, including Kaiser Permanente plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, and an orthopedic surgeon, made medical history October 9, 2001, when they successfully separated conjoined twins. The team was joined by a pediatric general surgeon and a pediatric neurosurgeon from The Children's Hospital. It was the first successful separation of conjoined twins in Denver. Alexandra and Sydney Stark were born March 9, 2001, at Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital. They were joined at their lower back and spine, but did not share any major organs. During the seven months between birth and separation, the physician team prepared themselves and the girls for the separation surgery. The girls had several surgeries including the insertion of tissue expanders to prepare them for the separation surgery. Brad McDowell, MD, led the team of plastic surgeons. Tissue expansion was required to ensure doctors would have enough skin to close the wounds made during separation surgery. The separation surgery took nearly 16 hours. Once separated, teams of plastic surgeons surrounded the girls, now on separate operating tables, closed their wounds, and checked their reflexes, which were positive normal.The doctors are optimistic that the girls' physical development will be normal. The Kaiser Permanente team included plastic surgeons McDowell, Royal Gerow, Berry Morton, Adam Lowenstein and Jack Cochran, orthopedic surgeon Steve Conlan, anesthesiologists Patty Coughlin and Teresa Youtz, neonatologist Mark DeMarie, perinatologist Robert McDuffie, and home care coordinator Carol Grunfeld. The entire period between birth and separation was captured on video by local news station KCNC-TV. The CBS affiliate shared their stories with 48 Hours, a CBS primetime magazine show. The program aired on December 7, 2001.
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