This is an absolutely unique case: a 17-year-old Indian girl had lived since birth with a fetus lodged in her abdomen, equipped with a real skeleton, teeth and hair: her twin who had been growing inside her since birth!
When a 17-year-old woman goes to the hospital in Patna, the capital of the state of Bihar in northeast India, the doctors have no idea what they will discover. The patient has had an abdominal lump for five years, the size of which has gradually increased. She also complains of stomach aches and explains having the feeling of a “full stomach”. The doctors first stick to a palpation of the stomach: the bump is hard, irregular, and does not move with the rhythm of breathing.
Suspecting a tumor, they carried out an abdominal scan and discovered a massmass located between the epigastric region and the pelvispelvis. Even more surprising, the scan shows areas of different density, as well as real calcified skeleton and soft tissue. Once the mass is removed, doctors carry out a histological examination and discover that the tumor is in reality a real fetus, 36 cm long, with hair, teeth, bones and ” limb-like structures », they detail in a report published in the journal BMJ. Although lacking a nervous system, the fetus appeared to have reached an advanced stage of development.
“Fœtus in fetus”: less than 100 cases recorded in the medical literature
This extremely rare anomaly, known as “ fetus in fetus ” Or ” fetus in fetu » (FIF), would affect one person in 500,000. But this is the first time it has been observed in an adult woman, and it is the largest fetus ever found inside a woman’s body. In 2015, a little Chinese girl was born with two twin fetuses measuring 3.7 and 3.5 cm in her womb. The exceptional case of a baby with 11 fetuses lodged in its abdomen was also reported in 2008. Seven other cases were recorded in adults, but all in men.
A “parasite” inside the body
Two theories compete to explain these malformationsmalformations. The first is that one fetus “absorbs” the other in the early stages of uterine development, with the second fetus becoming a sort of “parasite” sucking up resources and sharing the blood system of the first. Generally lacking a cerebral system and several vital organs, the fetus parasiteparasite does not survivechildbirthchildbirth. Another theory suggests that FIF is actually a form of tumor called teratomateratoma which presents differentiated cells with tissues of different nature.
Tumor or real fetus? A diagnosis not very clear to establish
But according to another study published in 2015, teratoma cannot really be considered as FIF, since the latter can develop independently and has malignant capacity. Additionally, true fetuses generally have a spinespine which is not found in teratomas.
It is therefore not very certain that all the cases identified are really FIF, and researchers also think that the other adult cases are more similar to a teratoma. In 80% of cases, the fetus develops in the abdominal cavityabdominal cavitybut other locations have been observed in the thoraxthoraxthe scrotum, the backback or even in the skullskull. Most of the time, FIF is fortunately detected before birth and removed in utero or a few days after giving birth.
Some 24 months after her operation, the young Indian woman doordoor perfectly. She also wanted to thank the doctors, saying she was relieved to no longer have this lump in her stomach and that her parents are also “very happy”.
