Posted on 03/28/2006 5:37:25 PM PST by Libloather
Surgeons Remove Two Fetuses From Infant
By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 22 minutes ago
A doctor pumps oxygen to two-month-old Pakistani girl Nazia after she went through a major surgery at a local hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, March 28, 2006. Surgeons operated on Nazia to remove two fetuses that had grown inside her while she was still in her mother's womb. The chief doctor who performed the operation said 'Basically, it's a case of triplets, but two of the siblings grew in the other'. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Surgeons operated on a 2-month-old Pakistani girl Tuesday to remove two fetuses that had grown inside her while she was still in her mother's womb, a doctor said.
The infant, who was identified only as Nazia, was in critical condition following the two-hour operation at The Children's Hospital at Pakistan Institute of Medical Science in the capital, Islamabad, said Zaheer Abbasi, head of pediatric surgery at the hospital.
Abbasi, the chief doctor who led the operation, said the case was the first he was aware of in Pakistan of fetus-in-fetu, where a fetus has grown inside another in the womb.
"It is extremely rare to have two fetuses being discovered inside another," Abbasi told The Associated Press, adding that he did not know what caused the medical abnormality. "Basically, it's a case of triplets, but two of the siblings grew in the other."
The baby comes from Abbotabad, about 30 miles north of Islamabad. She is the fifth child of a woman in her 30s, who was at the hospital to be with her daughter. Her father works in the Arabian Gulf.
Abbasi said surgeons removed the two partially grown fetuses, totaling about two pounds, that had died at about 4 months.
Other fetus-in-fetu cases have been reported elsewhere in the world. A report in a June 2000 issue of the U.S. journal Pediatrics called such occurrences rare and estimated their rate at about 1 per 500,000 births.
Tribbles. The only creatures born pregnant.
I'm forced to wonder....does God make mistakes?
Material for Ripley's Believe It or Not.
I just think it's a question of age and also just statistics. Most twins are absorbed by the body. These just happened to continue to grow. I actually think it's quite a miracle that the baby survived the other twins.
I've heard of the condition before.....when things go wrong...Jeepers!
This is the second time I've read about this -- and the other time was either Pakistan or India, I can't remember which.
That's sick and flat out wrong. Prayers lifted up for this little one to receive what she needs from the doctors and from above
'vile'
Like you looked at the protestors along the funeral procession route for the fallen military personnel.
It is amazing that she survived. It doesn't say where in her body the twins were, but her abdomen could possibly expand to hold them, and it's possible that the 2 four month twins had slowing or stunted growth, prior to their deaths. I'm just guessing, but a friend had worked at a neo-natal unit and described a newborn (who survived) with a large abdominal tumor nearly as large and dense as a grapefruit, quite similar to the size of her own head. And they did describe Nazia's surgery as major. What a blessing for the mom and family to have one survive at all, given the circumstances. A woman in my neighborhood lost 2 of 3 triplets in her 4th and 6th months. The survivor is a healthy jr. high student. I hope and pray Nazia makes it.
In your readings, you will find this a common anmolay. It happens often. Biology 102 would be a start for you.
I know someone who's child had this happen. He (the child) was 6 months old when they removed the twin from his chest.
This happened to my MOM....she had an identical twin sister...but, later in life started having problems, so they did a hysterectomy...and when they did, they found a fetus near one of her tubes...it had fingenails and everything..
It would have been her triplet sister...
God bless this little girl, and her mother who so obviously loves her. May this love continue though her life...
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