
An extremely rare condition left doctors baffled in Maharashtra's Buldhana, as a baby was discovered inside the stomach of an unborn child, reported India Today.
Such a case of ‘foetus-in-fetu’ was discovered at a government hospital when a 32-year-old woman who was expecting a child, underwent a sonography. According to the report, this rare congenital anomaly has only been documented in about 200 cases globally, with just 15-20 cases reported in India.
Dr Prasad Agarwal, a gynaecologist, discovered the condition in a woman who was in her ninth month of pregnancy. The condition had gone undetected in previous 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 with the help of a couple of doctors and confirmed it,” Dr Agarwal said.
Dr Agarwal explained that this anomaly, caused by a developmental issue during identical twin formation, was confirmed after a detailed examination.
Dr Bhagwat Bhusari, a civil surgeon, noted that while the mother is expected to have a normal delivery, the baby may require immediate medical care. The condition is not fully understood but is considered a developmental anomaly rather than a true twin pregnancy, as the parasitic twin cannot survive independently.