A rare medical phenomenon known as ‘foetus in fetu’ was recorded in Maharashtra as a baby was found inside the stomach of an unborn child.
In an extremely rare medical phenomenon, a baby was discovered inside the stomach of an unborn child in Maharashtra’s Buldhana.
The case of ‘foetus-in-fetu’ was detected at a government hospital when a 32-year-old woman underwent a sonography two days ago. This rare congenital anomaly has been documented in only about 200 cases worldwide, with just 15-20 reported in India.
“I was initially surprised and then carefully re-examined the images,” said gynaecologist Dr. Prasad Agarwal, who discovered the foetus, which was not developing. “It was indeed a case of a foetus-in-fetu,” he added.
The woman was in her ninth month of pregnancy, and this anomaly went undetected in earlier scans due to its extreme rarity and unpredictability.
“This was missed in the previous sonography because this is a very rare condition in which no one can even imagine that such a condition can exist. So, I did a detailed study from a couple of doctors and confirmed it,” Dr Agarwal said.
“The mother is likely to have a normal delivery”, explained Dr Bhagwat Bhusari, a Civil Surgeon of the Buldhana hospital. “However, the baby may require immediate medical attention after the birth”, he added.
The exact cause of this condition is not fully understood, but it is believed to result from an anomaly during the development of identical twins. It is considered a developmental anomaly rather than a true twin pregnancy, as the parasitic twin cannot survive independently.
