Fetus in foeto

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Fetus in foeto in the belly of a two month old girl ( computed tomography )

As a fetus in feto ( latin correct fetus in fetu ), also inclusio fetalis (Latin, " the inclusion of the fetus ') or eingedeutscht the fetal inclusion , a form which is double malformation (Siamese twins) denotes where a fetus or more fetuses in the to be incorporated into others.

Details and frequency

In the case of the fetus in foeto, two or more fetuses develop in the womb, of which one or more fetuses are incorporated into the other, unlike in the case of conjoined Siamese twins .

It is a very rare medical phenomenon . Fewer than a hundred such cases are known worldwide.

Possible consequences

Fetus in foeto of a two month old girl after surgical removal

Occasionally, due to previously little researched trigger factors (perhaps through growth hormones or carcinogens ), after years or decades, embryonic pluripotent stem cells still preserved in the surviving twin begin to multiply and differentiate to different extents , so that atypical ones in the survivor's body Places - such as the abdominal cavity or skull - hair, teeth or other relatively well differentiated tissue can be found all at once. Such cell proliferation is noticeable either through physical complaints or an incidental finding during examinations for other reasons ( ultrasound , x-rays ) during one's lifetime or during an autopsy after death.

Known cases

For example, the rare phenomenon was diagnosed around 2003 in Kazakhstan , June 2005 in Bangladesh, and November 2006 in Chile . In the first two cases, the developed fetus weighing two kilograms was removed from the abdomen of a 7-year-old and a 16-year-old child. In the latter case, however, the four-inch fetus was not fully developed and was surgically removed from the abdomen of the otherwise healthy boy.

The most spectacular case so far occurred in 1999 in India with 36-year-old Sanju Bhagat, from whose belly a partially differentiated person was removed.

Another case became known on May 15, 2008 in Greece . There, a nine-year-old girl was operated on a six-centimeter-long fetus from the abdomen in the general hospital in the city ​​of Larisa in Thessaloniki . He was partially differentiated, with long hair, spine and eyes. Another case was reported from Hong Kong on February 23, 2016. Doctors had wondered about a newborn's big belly. After an examination, it was found that the newborn had two more fetuses in its womb. The two fetuses weighed only 9.3 and 14.2 grams, the arms, legs, spine and some internal organs had already formed. An umbilical cord was also already in place. A Chinese gynecologist from the University of Hong Kong named a defective fertilization as the cause. On March 20, 2019, the press reported a unique case from Colombia . A fetal inclusion in utero was first diagnosed at the 35th week of pregnancy. A supposed liver cyst turned out to be a fruit cavity with an umbilical cord attached to the intestines of the sibling and a partially developed embryo in the abdomen of the unborn child during a sonographic check at the perinatal specialist . A caesarean section in the 37th week of pregnancy was followed one day later by the laparoscopic removal of the fetus from the newborn's abdomen.

Reception in the media

In addition to reporting and documentaries, there is also a literary adaptation of the subject extrapolated into the fantastic in Stephen King's novel Stark - The Dark Half . In the feature film amant double L' by Francois Ozon (France 2017), the phenomenon occurs. This is also an issue in the third season (episode 3) of the Chicago Med series . Also in episode 10 of the thirteenth season of Grey's Anatomy and in the pilot episode (season 1, episode 1) of The Night Shift . This phenomenon is also discussed in the fifth episode of the second season of South Park . The 13th season of Family Guy in Episode 2 is also about a stunted twin.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c N. M. Khalifa, DW Maximous, AA Abd-Elsayed: Fetus in fetu: a case report. In: Journal of medical case reports. Volume 2, 2008, p. 2, doi : 10.1186 / 1752-1947-2-2 , PMID 18186928 , PMC 2253549 (free full text).
  2. ↑ JH Chua, CH Chui, TR Sai Prasad, AS Jabcobsen, A. Meenakshi, WS Hwang: Fetus-in-fetu in the pelvis: report of a case and literature review. In: Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. Volume 34, Number 10, November 2005, pp. 646-649, PMID 16382253 . PDF with pictures and detailed literature overview
  3. ↑ a b How did that boy end up with his twin growing inside him? , The Guardian , July 17, 2003, last accessed July 18, 2009
  4. ↑ a b Man With Twin Living Inside Him - A Medical Mystery Classic ABC News , August 23, 2006, last accessed July 12, 2019
  5. ↑ "Embryonic Twin Removed from Young Girl's Abdomen" (English), findingdulcinea.com, May 15, 2008, last accessed on March 23, 2019
  6. ↑ Message in Greek , iatronet.gr
  7. ↑ Baby is born with twins in the womb. In: Augsburger Allgemeine of February 23, 2016, accessed online on February 24, 2016
  8. ↑ "A Twin Inside a Twin: In Colombia, at Extraordinary Birth" , article in the New York Times , last downloaded March 23, 2019
  9. ↑ Extremely rare phenomenon - baby carries dead fetus in stomach Der Spiegel, November 25, 2006
  10. ↑ Foetus in foeto - one year old carries a twin in her stomach n-tv, Panorama, Wednesday, September 9, 2009
  11. ^ Baby born with 'foot in brain' . In: BBC . Retrieved December 21, 2008.