Do you think some of your body parts can be attached to another body by birth? You may think it’s weird and not possible at all. There is a scientific reason behind the parasitic twins. So, let’s look into that.
Parasitic Twins
Parasitic twins also known as Heteropagus is a rare malformation, which involves two fetuses attached to each other, whereby one of the pair is viable and develops into a mature embryo called the autosite, while the second twin is usually non-viable but survives on the host twin. The estimated incidence of Heteropagus twins is approximately 1 per 1 million live births.
Cases
A male child was born to a 33-year-old mother with an extra-limb, scrotal mass projecting from the anterior abdominal wall, which also had an anterior abdominal wall defect below the extra-limb. The extra-limb was a lower limb with a well-formed foot and 5 toes with nails but was partly covered with skin and a thickened membrane. There were calcified bones in the limb which was detected through a radiograph.
In 3 months, another male child was born with a mass at the lower back. The mass had been increasing in size. The duplicate gluteal mass was located at the sacrococcygeal area, with a malformed lower limb, digit and a nail projecting from it. It had an atrophic scrotal skin attached to it.
Reasons
The reason behind the birth of parasitic twins is the teratoma and the hypotheses proposed. It has a wide spectrum of clinical presentations with the parasitic twins varying from vestigial primitive tissue to well-formed organs. It is difficult to distinguish a highly organized teratoma from a parasitic twin. This may result in normal twinning, and others may result in conjoined symmetrical twins, asymmetrical twins, parasitic twins, fetus in fetu/ teratomas.
Diagnosis
In the first case, the child had surgical excision of the extra-limb which was also attached to the lower anterior thoracic wall. The scrotal skin and redundant skin were also excised and the margin of the omphalocele was approximated. In the second case, the child had surgery in which the mass was successfully excised.
References
Read a similar article: One Body Two Faces: Strange case of Edward Mordake
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