Patrick and Benjamin Binder | |
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Born | |
Known for | First conjoined twins successfully separated by Ben Carson |
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Patrick and Benjamin Binder (born 2 February 1987) were conjoined twins, joined at the head, born in Germany in February 1987, and separated at Johns Hopkins Children's Center on 6 September 1987. [1] They were the first twins to be successfully separated by Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon assisted by Donlin M. Long of Baltimore, Maryland. For this operation, the surgeons could prepare by studying a three-dimensional physical model of the twins' anatomy. Carson described this separation as the first of its kind, with 23 similar attempted separations ending in the death of one or both twins.
Although the surgeons were able to separate the boys, both were left profoundly disabled. According to a 2015 Washington Post article, Patrick remained completely mute; he "had a setback in the Baltimore hospital when he choked on a piece of food, going without oxygen for a short time" and later died "sometime in the last decade". [2]
Benjamin recovered to a certain extent. [3] The Washington Post reported that Peter Parlagi, the twins' uncle, said their father was emotionally unable ever to handle them or share in their care. [2] He said the twins' father became an alcoholic, spent all the couple's funds and left their mother destitute and alone. She was forced to institutionalize them. [2]
In a 1993 interview, their mother, Theresia Binder, described guilt for agreeing to the operation that ruined the boys' prospect of ever having any quality of life. [2] According to The Washington Post's 2015 interview with Parlagi, Benjamin never learned to speak or feed himself, but he does enjoy visitors, and being taken for walks. [2]
Conjoined twins, popularly referred to as Siamese twins, are twins joined in utero. It is a very rare phenomenon, estimated to occur in anywhere between one in 50,000 births to one in 200,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and an additional one-third die within 24 hours. Most live births are female, with a ratio of 3:1.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the founding institutions of modern American medicine and the birthplace of numerous famed medical traditions, including rounds, residents, and house staff. Several medical specialties were founded at the hospital, including neurosurgery by Harvey Cushing and Walter Dandy, cardiac surgery by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas, and child psychiatry by Leo Kanner. Johns Hopkins Children's Center, which serves infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21, is attached to the hospital.
Charles Everett Koop was an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator who served as the 13th surgeon general of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989. According to the Associated Press, "Koop was the only surgeon general to become a household name" due to his frequent public presence around the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
Ladan and Laleh Bijani were Iranian conjoined twin sisters. They were joined at the head and died soon after their complicated surgical separation.
The history of intersex surgery is intertwined with the development of the specialities of pediatric surgery, pediatric urology, and pediatric endocrinology, with our increasingly refined understanding of sexual differentiation, with the development of political advocacy groups united by a human qualified analysis, and in the last decade by doubts as to efficacy, and controversy over when and even whether some procedures should be performed.
Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. is an American retired neurosurgeon, academic, author, and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. A pioneer in the field of neurosurgery, he was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in the United States.
Clarence and Carl Aguirre are former conjoined twins born in Manila. They were conjoined at the top of the head and shared 8 centimetres (3.1 in) of brain. More than 1–2 centimetres (0.4–0.8 in) will affect brain functionality in one or both of twins. Without separation, they were expected to live around 6–8 months.
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, formerly All Children's Hospital, is a pediatric acute care children's hospital located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The hospital has 259 beds and is affiliated with the USF Morsani College of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to pediatric patients aged 0–21 throughout western Florida. Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital also features a Level 2 Pediatric Trauma Center.
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story is a 2009 biographical television drama film directed and co-produced by Thomas Carter, written by John Pielmeier, and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Kimberly Elise and Aunjanue Ellis. The film is based on the autobiography of neurosurgeon Ben Carson, which was co-written by Cecil Murphey and published under the same title in 1990. A Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentation, the movie premiered on TNT on Saturday, February 7, 2009.
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story or simply Gifted Hands is an autobiographical book about the success story of Dr. Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon and future politician, and his life going from a failing student to leading a team of surgeons in the first known separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Co-written by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphey, Gifted Hands was adapted into a film of the same name by director Thomas Carter in 2009. In the film, Dr. Carson was portrayed by actor Cuba Gooding Jr.
Rowena Spencer was an American physician who specialized in pediatric surgery at a time when it was unusual for a female to become a surgeon. She was the first female surgical intern at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the first female appointed to the full-time surgery staff at Louisiana State University, and the first female surgeon in Louisiana.
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah is a Saudi pediatric surgeon. He has filled a number of supervisory and advisory roles in Saudi Arabia, including Minister of Health, Advisor to the Royal Court, and Supervisor General of the international aid agency KSrelief.
Craniopagus twins are conjoined twins who 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; the two 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 their own umbilicus and umbilical cord.
Lacena "Candy" Carson is an American author and educator. She is the spouse of former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, with whom she co-founded the Carson Scholars Fund in 1994. Alongside her husband, she is the co-author of four books. During his 2016 run for President of the United States, Carson was active on the campaign trail by conducting live interviews and television appearances.
Joseph V. Sakran is an American trauma surgeon, public health researcher, gun violence prevention advocate and activist. His career in medicine and trauma surgery was sparked after nearly being killed at the age of 17 when he was shot in the throat. He is currently an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University, director of Emergency General Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and vice chair of Clinical Operations. He also serves as the Associate Chief for the Division of Acute Care Surgery.
Willis John Potts was an American pediatric surgeon and one of the earliest physicians to focus on the surgical treatment of heart problems in children. Potts set up one of the country's first pediatric surgery programs at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Jacob Alexander Haller Jr. was an American pediatric surgeon who served as the first Robert Garrett Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Radhika and Dudhika Nayak were Indian conjoined twin sisters. They toured Europe and North America as "the Orissa Twins", sideshow performers with the Barnum and Bailey Circus.
James Tait Goodrich was an American neurosurgeon. He was the director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Montefiore Health System and Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery, Pediatrics, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and gained worldwide recognition for performing multiple successful separations of conjoined twins. He assisted in two craniopagus separations with Dr. Alferayan A in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the first one done May 5, 2014 and the second one done February 14, 2016. Both pairs were successfully separated and are doing well.
Johns Hopkins Children's Center (JHCC) is a nationally ranked, pediatric acute care children's teaching hospital located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, adjacent to Johns Hopkins Hospital. The hospital has 196 pediatric beds and is affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The hospital is the flagship pediatric member of Johns Hopkins Medicine and is one of two children's hospitals in the network. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout Baltimore and the wider United States. Johns Hopkins Children's Center also sometimes treats adults who require pediatric care. Johns Hopkins Children's Center also features the only ACS verified Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in the state. The hospital is directly attached to Johns Hopkins Hospital and is situated near the Ronald McDonald House of Maryland.
Carson's patients, Patrick and Benjamin Binder of Germany, survived with severe neurological deficits that left them institutionalized.
And although Carson and his team achieved something unprecedented, with long-term benefits for science, it did not result in a happy ending for the Binders.
Patrick Binder remains in a vegetative state, said David Nichols, a Johns Hopkins Children's Center pediatric anesthesiologist who participated in the surgery and now directs the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit. Patrick's brother, Benjamin, is improving, but is clearly not normal and developmentally delayed, the doctor said in Monday's editions of The (Baltimore) Sun.