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| 'Mermaid' baby to
begin 15 years of surgery
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Peru's "little mermaid," a baby born with legs fused from her thighs to her ankles, will undergo
delicate surgery Tuesday night to begin repairing her rare birth defect.
Doctors say it could take 15 years of operations to correct the child's
birth defects.
Milagros Cerron, who celebrated her first birthday on April 27, was
born with a rare congenital
defect known as sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome,"
which occurs in one out of every 70,000 births.
Doctors will begin the first of three complicated operations to
separate her legs, which are seamlessly fused all the way to her heels, at
9:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
The surgery on Milagros, whose name means "miracles" in Spanish, will
focus on her ankles and the lower third of her calves, and is expected to last at
least four hours.
There are only three known cases of children with the affliction alive
in the world today, the child's physician, Dr. Luis Rubio, said in the
statement.
A medical team of 10 doctors, including plastic surgeons, pediatricians
and heart specialists, will assist in the surgery.
In the past three months, doctors have inserted silicone bags filled
with saline solution to
stretch the skin so it will cover her legs once they are cut apart.
Rubio said last month that "frequent, recurring urinary infections" and a low red
blood count had slowed her progress ahead of surgery.
Milagros has a deformed left kidney and a very small right one located
very low in her body. In addition, her digestive and urinary tracts and
her genitals share a single tube.
Rubio said Milagros would need up to 15 years of corrective surgeries
to reconstruct and repair her sexual, digestive and other internal
organs.
(Agencies) |
一出生从大腿到脚踝就完全粘连在一起的秘鲁“小美人鱼”将于周二晚接受高难度的手术，以期修复其罕见的生理缺陷。
医生们表示一共需要15年时间来医治“小美人鱼”的生理缺陷。
4月27日，米拉格罗斯·塞龙迎来了自己的第一个生日。她出生时就患有罕见的先天性“无足并腿畸形症”，也叫“美人鱼综合症”，大约每7万个新生儿中会出现1例。
据美联社报道：周二晚九点半，医生们将开始进行第一次双腿分离手术，总共要进行三次复杂的手术才能将她的双腿分开，她的双腿一直到脚跟都完全粘连在一起。
米拉格罗斯这个名字在西班牙语中意为“奇迹”。这次手术预期至少得花4个小时，主要是将她的脚踝至小腿下部三分之一处分开。
主治医生刘易斯·罗比奥在声明中说，目前世界上已知的患有这种病并存活下来的儿童只有三个。
由10名整形外科医生、儿科医生和心脏病专家组成的医疗小组将在手术过程中提供帮助。
在过去的三个月中，医生们已经将一个装满盐水溶液的硅胶包植入她的双腿之间，逐步拉伸双腿之间的皮肤，这样，手术过后，皮肤就能覆盖双腿。
罗比奥医生上个月说，“频繁复发的泌尿系统感染”和较低的红细胞数延缓了手术前准备工作的进展。
米拉格罗斯的左肾畸形，右肾很小，位于身体的下方。此外，她的消化道，尿路和生殖器共用一条管道。
罗比奥医生表示一共需要15年时间才能重建并修复米拉格罗斯的性器官、消化器官和其他内脏器官。
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2005-06-02 09:38
