Chinese Doctors Separate Conjoined Twins

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, conjoined twins wait for separation surgery at No. 1 Hospital Affiliated to Hebei Medical University in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province Monday, July 16, 2007. The twins born on March 15 with congenital heart disease are scheduled for separation surgery at the hospital. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Yang Shiyao) (Yang Shiyao - AP)

BEIJING -- Chinese doctors have separated 4-month-old conjoined twin girls, the second such operation in the country in one week, state media reported Monday.

Xinhua News Agency said the operation lasted nearly 12 hours.

The girls were born prematurely on March 15 without breastbones and with their livers, hearts and much of their breast and abdomen connected, Li Yanmin, director of the pediatric department at the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University in northern Hebei province, was quoted as saying.

Doctors separated the twins' livers, repositioned their hearts and rebuilt their breastbones, Xinhua said.

The report said both babies were in a relatively stable condition, although the crucial first three days after Sunday's operation have not passed yet.

Last week, doctors in south China's Guangxi region separated a pair of newborn twin girls. One died shortly after the operation of heart and lung failure.