TWINS JOINED AT HEAD SEPARATED AT VATICAN HOSPITAL

Doctors at the Vatican’s pediatric hospital said Tuesday they have successfully separated conjoined twins whose skulls were fused back-to-back, an exceedingly rare surgery for an equally rare congenital defect.

The twins, Ervina and Prefina Bangalo, were born June 29, 2018, in Mbaiki, Central African Republic, with their heads attached and sharing critical blood vessels around their brains. Such cases of conjoined twins occur once in every 2 million births or so.

The Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital, which is Vatican-owned, brought the twins and their mother to Italy soon after their birth. The hospital said the toddlers are recovering well a month after their third and definitive separation surgery on June 5.

BAMBINO GESU HOSPITAL VIA AP Ermine Bangalo holds her twins, Ervina and Prefina.