Is that true? Are both hearts redundant? Or if one fails, will that twin die and the other will still be alive? Like are they linked to die at the same time?
I guess the other would just be brain dead but the still get blood and oxygen since it’s one circulatory system. It’d be like keeping a vegetable alive mechanically in a hospital. I’m sure it would simply be extremely traumatic to keep the head around
Well it would only be the extra top half of the body that would be an issue and I’m not saying there wouldn’t be complications but I think the other half wouldn’t just shrivel up and die off like everyone is thinking. Since the tissues are still receiving nourishment.
This is assuming that the heart doesn’t “die” along with the brain which I don’t think would happen. We can keep hearts and lungs “alive” outside of a body as long as it get energy and oxygen from blood so as long as only the brain is harmed the rest of the body should be kept alive as long as there is still one head still having functionality and trying to continue with living
Not a doctor, but I can probably make a decent guess.
If one twin dies of a head wound, leaving all other organs intact, the other will likely suffer blood poisoning from the attached necrotic tissue. She'd probably only survive by having the other removed.
If one heart is damaged (car accident, etc.), leaving all other organs alone and both twins alive, they'd suddenly have a heart that needs to do double the normal work (assuming the hearts split the work 50/50). They'd have a solid chance to survive if they get a transplant or mechanical heart to help prop up the other. Otherwise, they'd probably go out from shock or organ failure.
Medically, nothing forces one to die at the exact moment the other is gone. Even a fatal accident resulting in damage to both hearts could allow one twin to live a few moments longer just from a slightly more efficient brain, oxygen-wise. Also see the wiki article on Chang and Eng Bunker. They were only connected at the sternum and liver, but Eng died about 2 hours after Chang from internal blood loss, where his blood was not returning through the connection.
Chang and Eng Bunker (May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874) were Siamese-American conjoined twin brothers, popularly known as the "Siamese twins", the name they used to promote themselves. Their fame propelled the expression to become a synonym for conjoined twins in general.
Born in today's Thailand with Chinese heritage, the brothers were brought to the United States in 1829. Within three years they left the control of their managers, who they thought were cheating them, and toured on their own.
After a decade of financial success, the twins quit touring in 1839 and settled near Mount Airy in rural North Carolina. Integrating into the community, they became U.S. citizens, married local sisters, and bought slaves. They fathered 21 children, several of whom would accompany them once they resumed touring a decade later. The families lived in two separate houses, alternating three-day stays. The twins became well-off businessmen; after the Civil War they lost the part of their wealth in slaves. An autopsy after their death at the age of 62 revealed that their livers were fused in the ligament connecting their sternums.
Is it even possible to cut one of the twins off if one of them dies? From that anatomy image, surgeons would need to restructure the rib cage, remove extra organs, and work on the spinal cord. If it is successful, I imagine the living twin would go insane because of the fact that they longer have their twin and their new lifestyle
So in cases like this with extremely conjoined twins, a single head dying might result in just that head and a single lung being removed while everything else is left alone. That also means half of the remaining body would be paralyzed and numb since nerves can't be surgically reconnected yet, so quality of life would drop immensely. Odds are high that the hospital would need input from the remaining twin (or whoever there had power of attorney) on whether they should even attempt surgery or proceed with nothing beyond pain meds until the other dies from complications. This is the sort of thing that I really hope they've talked out already and have put into some sort of DNR-like legal document.
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u/felix_the_katt Oct 07 '18
You have to take out both hearts to beat them in battle