An Indian teenager with chronic stomach pains was shocked to be told they were caused by the malformed foetus of his twin.
Doctors were astonished to find the three-stone mass of bone, hair and teeth inside Narendra Kumar's abdomen.
The parasite had been feeding off Narendra, 18, after forming an umbilical cord-like structure that leached its twin's blood supply.
He was finally diagnosed with 'foetus in fetu,' a rare condition with only 200 cases ever reported worldwide.
The condition occurs when during the early stages of pregnancy with twins, one foetus enters the other through the umbilical cord.
There, it becomes a parasite, living off its sibling's body for survival.
According to doctors of Swaroop Narayan Hospital in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, it had been living like a parasite inside his body since his birth.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Dr Rajeev Singh said his patient had suffered from bouts of vomiting and lost weight but his family had no idea why.
It was only when surgeons operated on Monday that they discovered the grim cause behind his illness.
'The boy's stomach grew, but his plight went undiscovered for years because neither his parents were of his medical condition nor the doctors could diagnose the condition at an early stage,' he said.
'Technically, the foetus was alive and was growing due to metabolic activity in his body.'
Narendra's father Prem Chandra, a farmer, said it was a relief that his son was finally well again.
'That evil has been tormenting him for years,' he said.
'Now that it has been removed, I am relieved. He can now go back to school and lead a healthy life.'
Dr Singh was the first to perform a proper medical investigation, including an ultrasound and CT scan, before diagnosing the condition.
Doctors then went ahead with surgery to remove the growth, which measured 20 cms in length and had a trunk of hair that was two metres long.
He said: 'In the three hour-long surgery, we removed a mass of malformed baby having hair, teeth, a poorly developed head, a bony structure of chest and spine with lots of yellowish amniotic like fluid in the sac.
'We have witnessed two to three cases like this in India so far,' the doctor told MailOnline.
Last October, a similar case was reported from east Indian state of Bengal where a dead foetus was found inside the abdomen of a four-year-old boy in West Midnapore district.
Doctors were astonished to find the three-stone mass of bone, hair and teeth inside Narendra Kumar's abdomen.
The parasite had been feeding off Narendra, 18, after forming an umbilical cord-like structure that leached its twin's blood supply.
He was finally diagnosed with 'foetus in fetu,' a rare condition with only 200 cases ever reported worldwide.
The condition occurs when during the early stages of pregnancy with twins, one foetus enters the other through the umbilical cord.
There, it becomes a parasite, living off its sibling's body for survival.
According to doctors of Swaroop Narayan Hospital in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, it had been living like a parasite inside his body since his birth.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Dr Rajeev Singh said his patient had suffered from bouts of vomiting and lost weight but his family had no idea why.
It was only when surgeons operated on Monday that they discovered the grim cause behind his illness.
'The boy's stomach grew, but his plight went undiscovered for years because neither his parents were of his medical condition nor the doctors could diagnose the condition at an early stage,' he said.
'Technically, the foetus was alive and was growing due to metabolic activity in his body.'
Narendra's father Prem Chandra, a farmer, said it was a relief that his son was finally well again.
'That evil has been tormenting him for years,' he said.
'Now that it has been removed, I am relieved. He can now go back to school and lead a healthy life.'
Dr Singh was the first to perform a proper medical investigation, including an ultrasound and CT scan, before diagnosing the condition.
Doctors then went ahead with surgery to remove the growth, which measured 20 cms in length and had a trunk of hair that was two metres long.
He said: 'In the three hour-long surgery, we removed a mass of malformed baby having hair, teeth, a poorly developed head, a bony structure of chest and spine with lots of yellowish amniotic like fluid in the sac.
'We have witnessed two to three cases like this in India so far,' the doctor told MailOnline.
Last October, a similar case was reported from east Indian state of Bengal where a dead foetus was found inside the abdomen of a four-year-old boy in West Midnapore district.
Music: Desert City by Kevin MacLeod
Source: DailyMail
Comments
Post a Comment