Twin girls, 2, born joined at the head die minutes after being separated following five gruelling surgeries

TWIN sisters who were born joined at the head have tragically died just minutes after undergoing gruelling separation surgery.

Heloísa and Helena had to go through five agonising operations after being born with their heads fused together, meaning they shared brain tissue and blood vessels.

The twins, aged two years and seven months, endured a final 15-hour operation before they died in surgery on August 15.

They had been monitored for almost two years by the Hospital das Clínicas in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.

Over the last year, they had successfully completed four surgeries ahead of the final separation.

More than 50 medical and support staff were involved in the operation, working tirelessly to separate the girls completely.

Just minutes after the girls had been separated at the end of their fifth and final surgery, their condition rapidly deteriorated.

The medical team said the twins experienced haemodynamic instability, also known as insufficient blood flow to vital organs, which can lead to multiple organ failure and death.

During the procedure, one girl developed low blood pressure, while the other suffered high blood pressure.

Both girls tragically had a heart attack, Helena at 11.12pm and Heloísa at 11.26pm .

Doctors desperately tried to resuscitate them for 25 minutes but they were shortly pronounced dead, Helena at 11.37pm and Heloísa at 11.51pm.

Their father, Amarildo Batista da Silva, thanked the doctors and hospital staff for their efforts despite the tragic outcome.

Jayme Farina Júnior, a plastic surgeon on the team, said the girls had particularly fragile bodies.

She added: “They had many bouts of pneumonia, they had a tracheostomy, they needed a gastrostomy for feeding, and they had episodes that also weakened their bodies.

“But at the moment of the final separation, their bodies could not withstand this instability, and then they progressed to cardiac arrest.”

The twins’ first three surgeries required doctors to separate around 75% of their shared brain tissue and blood vessels.

Their fourth operation involved fitting tissue expanders to increase the amount of skin available when the doctors closed their skulls in the final separation.

Heloísa and Helena were buried on August 16 in São José dos Campos, their family home.

Amarildo said he did not see their deaths as a loss for the medical team.

He said: “Every child you lose is a defeat, every child you manage to save is a victory.

“I am sure you have far more victories than defeats, so this does not become a defeat.”

The girls were the third craniopagus (conjoined at the head) twins to be treated at Hospital das Clínicas.

Their treatment was fully funded by Brazil’s public healthcare system, meaning there was no cost to their family.