A study published in “Neurology” journal revealed that a child, 1, was brought into a hospital after she presented problems with motor functions and had an enlarged head.
After close investigation, the doctors found that the fetus of the unborn twin was in the child’s brain.
What Was On the Child’s Brain?
The mother noticed that her child’s appearance had changed. Two large white veins appeared on the top of her head, forming an X-shape. Concerned about her young child, she rushed to the hospital.
The doctors told the mother that the X-shape was caused by the skull bones being pushed apart by the swelling brain. Many things can cause a baby’s brain to swell, but a CAT scan revealed that the child had a tumor attached to their brain.
But this brain tumor wasn’t made of cells like most tumors are. Instead, the tumor was made mostly of fat and bone. Close examination revealed that the child’s twin was living inside its brain.
How Did This Happen?
Fetus-in-fetu, sometimes called a parasitic twin, happens when twins become conjoined in utero, and some cases occur during the early stages of twin pregnancy.
It happens when a cluster of dividing cells made by fertilized eggs, called the blastocyst, fails to separate properly, according to The Independent. One of the early embryos absorbs the other, but, in rare cases, the encasing of the twin fails to develop but remains “alive.”
“The conjoined parts develop into the forebrain of the host fetus and envelop the other embryo during neural plate folding,” the study said.
It is an extremely rare situation that became the plot of the 2021 horror movie, “Malignant.”
Removing the Twin
The only way to save the child’s life was to remove the twin. Brain surgery is extremely risky for a young child, but it was the only to ensure that the baby would live.
Most children who experience fetus-in-fetu end up dying from this rare condition that has been diagnosed only 18 other times. Not all of the twins live inside the brain. A fetus was discovered inside the abdomen of an Egyptian boy in 1997 and a baby girl in Ranchi had one found in her stomach last November.
Luckily, the doctor was able to carefully remove the mass from the child’s head and stitch their head back up. According to a graphic Reddit image, the fetus removed from the child’s head measures 10 centimeters.
The baby survived and recovered with no lingering medical problems, making them the only child to successfully have their twin removed from their brain.
