Boy Has Twin Surgically Removed From Inside Stomach
- 11 years ago
A Chinese boy was discovered to be serving as host to his undeveloped, conjoined twin, making it appear as if he was pregnant.
The birth of conjoined twins is a rare occurrence.
In an incredible story, the stomach of a 2-year-old boy in China had become so enlarged he was struggling to breathe.
He was rushed to the hospital where doctors found something totally unexpected.
The boy was serving as host to his undeveloped, conjoined twin, making it appear as if he was pregnant.
He underwent emergency surgery so the anomaly could be corrected.
While the fetus was dead when it was removed, it had grown to occupy two-thirds of the boy’s stomach.
Upon extraction, doctors discovered that the fetus had at some point grown to a size of nearly 8 inches. Further, a spine, toes, and fingers had been formed.
The condition of twins being conjoined in that way is extremely rare, but happens often enough for the phenomenon to have a name – cryptodidymus.
It happens when the fertilized egg doesn’t completely separate as it does in the case of identical twins.
Doctors say that when conjoined twins develop parasitically such as in this case, the separation procedure is significantly less difficult.
The birth of conjoined twins is a rare occurrence.
In an incredible story, the stomach of a 2-year-old boy in China had become so enlarged he was struggling to breathe.
He was rushed to the hospital where doctors found something totally unexpected.
The boy was serving as host to his undeveloped, conjoined twin, making it appear as if he was pregnant.
He underwent emergency surgery so the anomaly could be corrected.
While the fetus was dead when it was removed, it had grown to occupy two-thirds of the boy’s stomach.
Upon extraction, doctors discovered that the fetus had at some point grown to a size of nearly 8 inches. Further, a spine, toes, and fingers had been formed.
The condition of twins being conjoined in that way is extremely rare, but happens often enough for the phenomenon to have a name – cryptodidymus.
It happens when the fertilized egg doesn’t completely separate as it does in the case of identical twins.
Doctors say that when conjoined twins develop parasitically such as in this case, the separation procedure is significantly less difficult.