What Happens When One Conjoined Twin Dies? Here’s What Science Says

When conjoined twins are born, sometimes, one of the twins emerges alive while the second twin is stillborn. Sadly, in these tragic cases, emergency measures need to be taken in order to keep the living twin alive.

Consider this a trigger warning, as the story below discusses the death of a newborn baby and the processes taken to separate a living conjoined twin from a deceased conjoined twin.

Below, we explore what science says about what happens when one conjoined twin is stillborn and the other conjoined twin is born alive.

Continue reading so that you can better understand what happens in these rare cases, as well as to learn sympathy and empathy for these tragic cases and all who are involved.

According to published research entitled "Successful separation of conjoined twins, one healthy and one stillborn: A case report" in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery Case Reports via ScienceDirect, when one conjoined twin is born alive and the other conjoined twin is stillborn, an emergency separation procedure is needed in order to preserve the life of the living conjoined twin.

"Postnatal management for twins can include nonoperative, elective, or emergency surgical separation, depending on whether there are life-threatening conditions that put one or both twins at risk. For example, if one twin dies, emergency surgical separation may be necessary," according to the case study.

Per the research accompanying the case study, the living conjoined twin cried after emerging during birth, did not need to be resuscitated, exhibited stable vital signs, and passed waste normally.

As the emergency separation surgery was planned, the living conjoined twin was given 150 mg of IV ampicillin twice a day, as well as 15 mg of IV gentamycin once a day and IV fluid containing 60 ml of dextrose once a day..

"The dead twin usually puts the surviving twin at risk of death from overwhelming sepsis in the shared blood vessels as well as failure of the shared organs," per the research. "In this case, the twin that survived developed sepsis, but she did not experience end-organ failure. This was likely because they did not share many vital organs."

It appears that the fact that the twins in the aforementioned case study did not share many vital organs is rare.

According to an article in Ranker, the degree to which the conjoined twins share vital organs may very well influence the likelihood of survival for the living twin.

Among the rare instances where conjoined twins are indeed born, an astounding 40% to 60% involve a stillbirth. With only approximately 12 sets of conjoined twins living globally today, per the Ranker report, this underscores the rarity of one or both twins surviving.

"According to Dr. Eric Stauch, when the heart of one of the twins stops, they will lose blood into the living twin," per the Ranker article. "There are only hours to save the living twin with surgery, meaning they would need to be in the hospital prior to the loss. Sepsis occurs when the infection from the deceased twin overwhelms the living twin's system, causing inflammation that leads to organ failure."