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Doctors Examining Conjoined Twins

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Feb 8, 2006 12:38 pm US/Central

Doctors Examining Conjoined Twins

Fargo, N.D. (AP) ― Conjoined twins Abby and Belle Carlsen have undergone a scan at a Minneapolis hospital so doctors can determine the safest way to separate them.

The 2-month-old girls underwent an MRI scan Tuesday. More diagnostic tests may be scheduled for later in the month, said Allison Sandve, a spokeswoman for Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.

Doctors will study the scans to determine how the girls are connected before scheduling a date for surgery to separate them.

The Fargo twins were hospitalized last week, after Abby developed a lung infection. She has since been taken off oxygen, said Jesse Carlsen, their father.

The girls were born in late November to Jesse and Amy Carlsen at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. Preliminary studies showed they are joined at the breastbone, liver and part of their intestines, but they have separate hearts and other vital organs.

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According to the Mayo Clinic, conjoined twins are extremely rare, occurring once in every 200,000 births.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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