One of the Chinese conjoined twins who was separated last week in an unusually complex operation has passed away. Hospital officials in Shanghai confirmed the death of Hu Jingxuan on Monday afternoon, local time.
Hu Jingxuan's condition grew worse over the weekend and she continued to deteriorate on Monday before her passing. Her sister, Chen Jingni, is still in stable condition at the Fudan University Children's Hospital in Shanghai according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.
Doctors were amazed that both girls had survived the complicated surgery. The twins shared many vital organs including a liver, spleen, gall bladder and digestive tract. A 13-hour-long operation was only authorized after the girls stopped gaining weight.
When the twins were born, they weighed a total of 10 pounds. At the time of last week's surgery, they weighed only 16 pounds according to hospital officials. The twins were 10-months old at the time of the operation.
In addition to sharing all of the aforementioned vital organs, the twins had other serious medical problems that made the surgery dangerous including congenital heart disease.
Doctors will continue to monitor the health of Chen Jingni as she recovers from the operation.
