Here the well-known phrase applies, “when reality is stranger than fiction”: Doctors from China They found a fetus, “a parasitic twin” inside the brain of a one-year-old baby. Yes, this very rare find was made known by scientists from Fudan University.
‘Parasitic twin’ found in baby’s brain
It was in the magazine Neurology that scientists from Fudan University in China revealed that They found a “parasitic twin” in the brain of a one-year-old baby.
Yes, in the investigation they presented, they explained that after the surprising discovery, they underwent a surgical intervention on the girl to extract the fetus of her twin brother.
In fact, they explained that this fact is often known as “fetus in feto” o “fetus in fetus”as well as “parasite twin”.
Why did this happened?
The study by Chinese scientists explains that the mass that was removed from the baby’s head, a “diagnostic malformed monocryonic twin”, occurred because in the mother’s womb both fetuses shared the same placenta; however, they had separate amniotic sacs, which are responsible for protecting them while they are developing.
With this, experts assume that the fetus lodged in the girl’s brain during a development process called “folding of the black plate”which is very important for the formation of the structure of the brain and spinal cord.
Only 200 cases have been registered
How weird is this? Well, just to give you an idea of how special this case is, we tell you that scientists Worldwide, only about 200 cases of “parasitic twin” have been registered, of which 28 were inside the skulllike this one where it was staying in the baby’s brain.
And it is that most of the cases have occurred inside the abdomen of the other fetus, which usually look like a mass in the tissues that line the abdominal wall, an event that occurs approximately 1 in every 500 thousand births.
How did they find out about the Chinese baby’s “parasite twin”?
They realized that the “parasitic twin” was inside the baby’s brain, when the girl began to show symptoms of delayed development of her motor skillsas well as by a strange enlargement of the cranial circumference and accumulation of fluid in the brain.
Upon realizing the “fetus in fetus”, and performing the surgery, they realized that the twin already showed signs of development, as a vertebral column, two leg bones, plus fingers on the upper limbs. In fact, they realized that she even suffered from a forked back; that is to say, when a part of the spinal cord is exposed.
Just to remove the doubts, when performing DNA tests it was confirmed that it was the girl’s twin, which could continue to develop by the blood of his sister… Remember, we are not talking about a horror movie, but about a totally real case.
