Girl, seven, has foetus of her triplet sibling removed after Kazakhstan doctors discover ‘outlines’ of a head, arms and legs she absorbed while in the womb
- Abnormality is result of condition – foetus in foetu – where one envelops another
- Typically the condition is discovered at birth and the nonviable foetus removed
A seven-year-old girl in Kazakhstan has undergone surgery to have the foetus of her triplet sibling removed from her lower back.
Doctors removed the large tumour from the child in which they had found ‘fuzzy outlines’ of a human head, arms and legs.
The unidentified schoolgirl was delivered at 34 weeks by Caesarean as the firstborn of a set of twins – the youngest children in a family of eight siblings.
However, it was later found that an unusual medical defect had caused the embryo of an unnoticed triplet to be embedded inside the eldest twin.
The tumor had grown progressively over the seven years of the young girl’s life and was causing her progressively worse spinal problems
Such cases, where one foetus envelops another, normally involves twins and are usually noticed at birth.
The undeveloped embedded foetus, which acts as a parasite, is usually removed not long after birth.
But in this latest case, the foetus remained unnoticed inside the child for years.
As time went on, it grew, leading to a progressively worse spinal problems for the young girl.
By the time her parents – from a remote village in the central Asian country – took her to surgeons in the city of Almaty seven years later the remains of her undetected triplet had grown to the size of a human fist.
The resulting tumour was clearly visible as a swelling in the schoolgirl’s lower back and upper buttock.
Doctors were unable to determine the sex of the unborn and non-viable triplet but it was assumed to be a girl.
The girl who carried her sibling was found to be clear of cancer or other serious conditions,’ said Dr Alibek Zharasov, deputy head doctor of Children’s City Hospital No. 2 in Almaty.
He said it was unclear why the parents had not sought medical help earlier, but he said if the lump had not been removed it could have developed into a ‘dangerous tumour’.
He confirmed the girl – who underwent surgery late last year – had recovered well from the surgery.
Dr Alibek Zharasov, deputy head doctor of Children’s City Hospital No. 2 in Almaty (pictured above) is one of those who operated on the young girl
Dr Zharasov was assisted by three other surgeons in undertaking the unusual operation – Dr Marat Rabandiyarov, Dr Azamat Zhailganov, and Dr Marat Kaptagaev.
Such cases – known as foetus in foetu – typically occur in twins and the Kazakh doctors are unaware of any previous cases involving a triplet.
The condition develops inside the womb where one foetus wraps itself around the other.
The enveloped foetus becomes a parasite depending on the host unborn child’s blood supply.
It has no brain and is unable to survive on its own and if not removed by surgery after birth, it grows slowly inside its twin.
The young boy in this picture, Almajan, presented to doctors in Kazakhstan with a similar tumour. His had grown in his stomach giving him the appearance of pregnancy
In 2003 there was a similar case in Kazakhstan, involving a boy, Almajan, also aged seven.
He became known as ‘the boy who gave birth to his twin’ when surgeons operated on his distended stomach, that gave the appearance of pregnancy.
Inside the boy, they found a large, oval mass covered in veins, each connected to blood vessels, with limbs, nails and male genitals.
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