Underdeveloped fetus removed from 20-day-old infant's abdomen

Ahmedabad: In a rare case, an underdeveloped fetus weighing around 750 grams has been removed from a 20-day-old baby's abdomen at a private hospital here, according to a report in the Times of India.

As per the report, the baby was admitted to the hospital, when his parents noticed a huge swelling in his abdominal area.  After a medical test, it was found that the newborn was suffering from a rare medical condition called retroperitoneal mature teratoma or fetus-in-fetu.

Fetus-in-fetu is a rare condition where an underdeveloped fetus in found in the abdomen of another infant. The condition is defined as the presence of one of the twins in the body of the other. It occurs in one in five lakh cases and around 200 such cases have been recorded in medical history so far.

Bhavin Vasavada, consultant gastrointestinal hepatobiliary and liver transplant surgeon based in Ahmedabad, who conducted the surgery, said that the CT scan was showing the rare condition after which a team of doctors decided to operate on the baby, reportedly.

A mature teratoma (underdeveloped foetus) was removed from baby's abdomen, which had an undeveloped hand and some parts of spine. 
Dr Vasavada also said that mature teratoma at retroperitoneal location is also a rare condition.

As per the reports, the infant , whose parents are from Sanand town in Ahmedabad, has now been discharged and is recovering well.