Parasitic twin foetus removed from infant

Doctors at a private hospital in Mettupalayam recently removed a 3.5-kg foetus from a 15-month-old infant after a two-hour operation.

D. Vijayagiri, the doctor who treated her at Sri Ganapathi Krishna Hospital, said that the infant, R. Nisha, was safe.

They had diagnosed her with the medical condition foetus in foetu, in which a parasitic twin resides inside the host twin.

This occurs because of improper placement during the development of the foetus.

The doctor said that the foetus had grown so big that Nisha’s abdomen was abnormally big.

She was malnourished and had difficult in breathing as the foetus, which he first thought to be a cyst, affected the functioning of the diaphragm.