Twins joined at head are parted after 20 hours

Twin girls joined at the head were separated yesterday by a team of more than 50 doctors and nurses.

Doctors at the University of California children's hospital were initially jubilant at the success of the 20-hour operation. Dr Houman Hemmati, a member of the team, said: "People were cheering, people were clapping, people were crying."

However, one of the girls, Maria Teresa, had further surgery later because of bleeding in her brain.

Her sister, Maria de Jesus Quiej-Alvarez, remains in critical but stable condition. The lead neurosurgeon, Dr Jorge Lazareff, said the outlook for both twins was "positive".

Cranial separation had been tried only five times until this week. Tests indicated the one-year-olds had separate brains, although the surgeons could not be certain until they operated.

The girls, who have spent almost all their lives in hospital in Guatemala, were brought to Los Angeles by a charity called Healing the Children, which hopes the publicity will help with the $1.5m (£975,000) cost of treatment. The medical team donated their services.