STRANGE FIND
Baby treated for stomach pain actually had unborn twin hidden inside her… as doctors reveal she could have died
DOCTORS treating a baby girl suffering from stomach pain were left stunned to find she had her unborn twin inside her tummy.
Medics made the bizarre discovery while operating on the ten-month-old tot, intending to remove an abdominal tumour.
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But they were blown away when they discovered the growth in her stomach was actually her twin.
The extraordinary case, known as fetus in fetu, left surgeons at a hospital in the city of Sadiqabad in Pakistan stunned.
Medical chiefs explained the little girl had initially been admitted for treatment after suffering severe abdominal pain.
She underwent an ultrasound scan and doctors believed they had spotted the presence of a tumour in her tiny stomach.
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It was also believed that the baby was experiencing ascites, a painful condition where fluid collects in spaces within the belly.
The infant was rushed into theatre, where pediatric surgeon Mushtaq Ahmed prepared to remove the unusual growth.
"When the operation commenced, everything appeared to be proceeding as expected," he said.
"However, after a span of two hours, a revelation emerged upon the removal of the tumour from the young girl's abdomen.
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"It was discovered that the tumour was, in fact, a fetus."
To their astonishment, hospital staff found the girl's undeveloped twin had been nestled inside her stomach.
This phenomenon is commonly referred to as Vanishing Twin Syndrome.
The tot's dad said his unnamed daughter had experienced stomach pain since she was born, seeing her receive various treatments.
But nothing seemed to cure the baby's discomfort, prompting her parents to take her to the hospital for further investigations.
The tot's family were just as overwhelmed by the news as doctors.
Ahmed explained: "This phenomenon, known as fetus in fetu, involves the development of twins where one fetus grows within the body of the other.
"It happens with one in a million individuals. A sample has been dispatched to the laboratory for further comprehensive testing.
"This process is actually of twins in which one child develops in the mother’s womb while the other develops inside the belly of the fetus.
"The surgical procedure itself was highly intricate, with the primary objective being the preservation of the girl's life.
"We are grateful for the divine intervention that led to our triumph."
Following the successful surgery, doctors said the baby girl's condition is now stable and she is on the road to recovery.
According to a report from the British Medical Journal, this particular case is estimated to occur in only one out of every 500,000 people.
Remarkably, throughout the history of medical science, less than 200 cases have been reported worldwide.
We previously reported how an X-ray found that a ten-month-old boy had his twin growing inside his body in Indonesia in 2017.
Muhammad Abdalul Zikri Hakim’s stomach swelled to the size of a small football - as the foetus was alive and acting as a parasite.
Two years later, a little girl in Colombia was forced to undergo surgery after she was born with her own twin inside her tiny belly.
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Medics performed keyhole surgery to remove the malformed twin from little Itzamara as it did not have a brain or a beating heart.
Another fetus in fetu case was reported at the Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod, Israel, in 2021.
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