Posted: 29/Nov/2016
A baby boy in India has been born with the head and arms of his parasitic twin attached to his tiny body.
The as-yet-unnamed tot was born naturally, but when he came out he had the extra limbs hanging from his chest down to torso.
Although he is fully formed, his twin is missing genital and legs, attached to his body. Both the babies have separate heart and lungs but are sharing the same liver and most of the alimentary system and blood supply. Doctors believe the chances of detaching the parasitic twin is high but admit the surgery will be lengthy and complicated. Hemlata Singh, 28, had never undergone an ultrasound throughout her pregnancy and was expecting a home delivery.
However, late last Saturday when the baby did not come out even after whole day of labour pains, her husband, a daily wage labour brought her to Ummed Women’s Hospital in Udaipur in Rajasthan where she delivered the baby in the early hours. But to the shock of the mother and the doctors, the baby weighing a combined 8.17lb, was not alone.
parasitic twin
Dr Anurag Singh, Professor of Paediatrics at the hospital said the newborn were a rare case of parasitic twin but could hopefully be detached in a surgery soon.
“It is definitely a rare case of parasitic twin where the second baby is not fully formed. They luckily have separate hearts but share the internal mammary artery. This could make it little complicated to operate but chances of saving the baby is high as it is healthy.”
“We are monitoring the condition of the strong baby and taking help of cardiologist to plan a surgery as soon as their condition is stable,” said Dr Singh.
Parasitic twins are usually a result of a delay in the separation of embryos during conception. They are formed when one embryo maintains a dominant development at the expense of the other.
www.medicalworldnigeria.com
