Four-year-old conjoined twins from Malaysia are to undergo tests in London next week to see if they can be separated by a delicate operation, the hospital said today.

Ahmad and Muhamad Rosli, whose hometown was not known, were examined Thursday by doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London, one of Britain's top pediatric facilities.

"A consultant saw the four-year-old conjoined twins, who are intelligent, healthy and lively," a hospital spokeswoman said.

"The family has been advised that the success rate in older children during a planned operation like this is in excess of 80 percent," she said. "However, a proper evaluation will depend on further tests."

Joined face-to-face

Earlier this week, 13-month-old Guatemalan twin girls, joined at the head, were separated during a 22-hour operation at the University of California in Los Angeles, where they remain in intensive care.

The Malaysian twins — joined face-to-face from the chest to the pelvis — were brought to Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, east of London, by George and Lisa Henry who run a charity called Happy for Needy Children.

Great Ormond Street Hospital has admitted 17 cases of conjoined children since 1984, a spokesman said, making it a European center for undertaking such complicated surgery. — AFP