ROME: A hospital in Rome said on Tuesday it had successfully separated two-year-old twins joined above the nape of their necks, after three risky surgeries.

Joined skull to skull, sisters Ervina and Prefina were born with a condition the Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) Pediatric Hospital in Rome. The hospital said it was the first time in Italy and likely the world - as such a case had never been cited in medical literature - that surgeons were able to separate twins joined in such a way, sharing the back of their skull and its venous system.