Conjoined twin dies after separation surgery from dead brother

A conjoined twin in Brazil died following an operation that separated him from his brother, who passed away shortly after they were born.

According to the Goiás State Government, twin boys Marcos and Mattheus, who were connected at the hip, underwent colostomy and vesicostomy 24 hours after their birth last week. It was a "highly complex procedure" performed by pediatric surgeon Zacharias Calil "to ensure the best possible clinical conditions for the newborns."

"A colostomy is a surgical procedure that creates an opening in the intestine for the elimination of feces through a collection bag, while a vesicostomy consists of creating an opening in the bladder to allow urine drainage, aiding in the proper functioning of the urinary system," its statement read.

The surgeries were successful, and the newborns stayed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. However, complications arose not too long after.

In an Instagram post, Calil announced that one of the conjoined twins died last Jan. 8 after suffering successive cardiac arrests.

"Given the severity of the frame, we performed an emergency surgery to separate the brothers in an attempt to save the second baby. The surgery was performed with technical success, however, despite all the efforts of the medical team and neonatology, the second newborn did not resist either," he said.

"I sympathize with the family at this moment of great pain and reaffirm my commitment to medicine guided in ethics, responsibility, and humanization," he continued.

In another post, Calil called the twins' deaths "one of the most challenging situations in medicine."

"Moments like this remind, with harshness, that our commitment is to fight to the last moment with technique, responsibility, and humanity," he mused.