German Surgeon Told Conjoined Twins No

H A N O V E R, Germany, July 9 -- The late conjoined Iranian twins always knew their separation could mean death, but the doctor that denied their request for the surgery 15 years ago says they never even had a chance.

Dr. Madjid Samii, president of the International Neuroscience Institute in Hanover, Germany, said he was shocked when he heard the operation onLaleh and Ladan Bijani was set to go forward.

‘They Should Not Be Operated On’

"I was asked in 1988 to evaluate the situation and give my opinion whether this surgery can be done," Samii said. "I tried at that time to convince the people that they should not be operated on."

Samii, 66, said he closely examined the blood supply and blood drainage around their brains and found an insurmountable problem. He says he and his colleagues found the twins shared only one vein that drained blood from their brains to their hearts.

"Blood drainage must be 100 percent when you separate the brain," Samii said. "Otherwise the brain starts to swell and within 24 hours you have increased pressure and then brain death," he said.

Samii, one of the world's leading neurosurgeons, said he assumed the surgeons who decided to operate on the twins must have solved the drainage problem, though he didn't know what their plan was.

The twin Iranian sisters joined at the head since birth 29 years ago died within hours of each other Tuesday after surgeons in Singapore separated them in an operation the twins wanted for years.

The surgical team, led by neurosurgeon Dr. Keith Goh, battled to reroute the shared vein draining blood from the twins' brains to their hearts. Then neurosurgeons pried apart the brains millimeter by millimeter.

The Bijani twins died from massive blood loss after the 52-hour operation.

Samii said he knew there was "no chance of success" all along.

‘I Would Not Support It’

Lori and Reba Schappell, conjoined twins from Reading, Pa., who've been joined at the head since birth 41 years ago, have never considered undergoing a separation procedure, knowing it might be fatal.