Kalia died on 25 November 2020 from cardiac arrest while Jaga continues to live. Rabeya and Rukaya Islam, born in Pabna, Bangladesh in July 2016, were successfully separated after a 33-hour surgery in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by a medical team from a Hungarian nonprofit called the Action for Defenseless People Foundation led by renowned neurosurgeon András Csókay. Two unnamed year-old twins conjoined at the back of their heads were separated successfully in a surgery performed by Dr. Mickey Gideon at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel, in September 2021. Bernado and Arthur Lima, three-year-old twins from Roraima, Brazil, were separated by a team led by Owase Jeelani in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. Seven surgeries were needed, the last of which alone took 27 hours. The operation was particularly notable in that Jeelani received assistance from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London via the use of virtual reality, as well as the twins being the oldest craniopagus twins to be separated. Tatiana and Krista
Throughout history, the fascination about craniopagus twins has continually increased as neurobiology and the field of neuroscience has become more interesting to the public. In 2011, The New York Times Magazine covered a story of two craniopagus twin girls who share a brain and seem to show all different kinds of physiological and emotional responses due to their condition. Though Krista and Tatiana Hogan share a brain, the two girls showed distinct personalities and behavior. One example was when Krista started drinking her juice Tatiana felt it physically going through her body.
Craniopagus twins are conjoined twins that are fused at the cranium. The union may occur on any portion of the cranium, but does not primarily involve either the face or the foramen magnum; their brains are usually separate, but they may share some brain tissue. Conjoined twins are genetically identical and always share the same sex. The thorax and abdomen are separate and each twin has its own umbilicus and umbilical cord.The condition is extremely rare, with an incidence of approximately 1 in 2.5 million live births. An estimated 50 craniopagus twins born around the world every year as of 2021, with only 15 twins surviving beyond the first 30 days of life. Relatively few craniopagus twins survive the perinatal period; approximately 40% of conjoined twins are stillborn and an additional 33% die within the immediate perinatal period, usually from organ abnormalities and failure.However, 25% of craniopagus twins survive and may be considered for a surgical separation; several such attempts occur yearly worldwide. Advances in neuroimaging, neuroanesthesia, and neurosurgery have proven that a successful outcome is possible. Among all conjoined twins, craniopagus twins account for a mere 2% to 6%. Classification
The first classification system was developed by OConnell in 1976, where craniopagus twins were classified as total and partial. In the former, twins shared an "extensive surface area with widely connected cranial cavities", while in the latter, only a "limited, superficial surface area" was connected.In 2006, Stone and Goodrich came up with a more nuanced classification system, which is the "most commonly used" system.