A 40-day-old infant in India in Bihar's Motihari district was discovered with a fetus inside the stomach. Doctors made the discovery when a newborn was admitted to the hospital due to bloating and difficulty in urination. When the medical team ran a series of tests, they found out that the infant had fetus in fetu or the presence of a fetus in the stomach of a child.
Dr. Tabrez Aziz of Rahmania Medical Center advised a CT scan for the patient. When the results came out, everyone was shocked to find out that a fetus had developed inside the baby's stomach. The baby had since undergone surgery to remove the fetus and was released from the hospital, NDTV reports.
Fetus in fetu (FIF)
Aziz said the baby's condition is called fetus in fetu (FIF). It is a rare congenital anomaly in which a malformed and parasitic fetus is located in the body of its twin. The condition was first discovered in the early 19th century, with around 200 reports since its first discovery. FIF happens only in one out of 500,000 births.
In 2008, a case study published in the Journal of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons documented a ten-day-old newborn female. The baby was referred to a hospital due to a mass in the abdomen area. The doctors found a fetal head, trunk, arm, and two leg-like structures upon operation. Like a newborn baby, the "baby" was also covered with vernix caseosa, the white creamy, naturally occurring biofilm that protects the skin during the last months of pregnancy. The doctors removed the mass, including the capsule that enclosed it.
In another case, the mother noticed her three-week-old baby having a lump in her buttocks. When the doctors operated on it, they noted a hairy trunk measuring five to six centimeters and two hand-like structures with fingers and nails at the ends. The doctors removed the mass.
FIF also happens in adults
FIF also happens in adults. As per BMJ Journal, a 17-year-old woman reported an abdominal lump growing continuously for five years. She complained that she quickly got satiated, but doctors could not note a significant weight loss. As per tests, they say that the young woman was healthy. All her tests were standard except for the abdominal lump, which had been growing. When the doctors operated on the girl, they found hair, bones, and other body parts inside the mass.
The girl said she was feeling much better after the operation. The young woman thanked the operating doctors, saying she was worried about her abdominal lump before the procedure. She said she was feeling much better and that her abdomen looked better. She added that her parents were delighted. Doctors noted that the teener is the first documented young adult woman with FIF case worldwide.
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