Fetus-in-fetu case: One-year-old girl found with 3.5 kg fetus inside stomach in Tamil Nadu!

(Image for representational purposes only)

Zee Media Bureau/Udita Madan

Coimbatore: In a rare medical case in Tamil Nadu, a fetus weighing 3.5 kilograms was removed from the stomach of a one-year-old girl!

The fetus found inside the infant was malformed and was feeding off her blood supply and nutrition, while also suppressing her organs.

The little girl had to go through a surgery to get the fetus removed at a private hospital in Mettupalayam on Saturday evening.

The child was born with a larger-than-normal stomach, but the parents ignored it. It was only after they noticed that their child was experiencing breathing issues and problems while eating food, along with the stomach of the girl growing to an abnormally large size, that they decided to consult a private doctor.

As per the Times of India, the doctor referred the child to Dr Vijayagiri on Thursday evening, believing it was a large cyst in the baby's abdomen. "I too believed that it was a cyst or tumour till the ultrasound and scan showed that there were bony areas, calcified region and a teratoma-like structure (a tumour containing tissues and organs). That was when I suspected that it was a fetus-in-fetu and quickly looked up some literature," said Dr Vijayagiri, who performed the surgery.

"However, it was only when I removed the structure, could I confirm that it was a fetus. Though it has some bones, a pathology study is what can reveal the organs formed so far," he said.

The surgery was a complex one, made more so because the baby's left kidney was completely attached to the tumour.

Other organs like the pancreas, a portion of the spleen and left side of the colon were attached to the fetus and the blood vessels were splayed around the structure.

The girl weighed 8kg before the removal of the 3.5kg fetus and is now in a stable condition and recovering well.