Chinese doctors experienced a real shock when an 11-year-old schoolgirl with a third hand on her back was admitted to the hospital. It turned out that the “scion” was part of the girl’s identical twin, who could not develop and “infiltrated” his sister's body.
Such an anomaly is extremely rare: approximately once in five million pregnancies. As a result of the violation of the process of egg division, the so-called parasitic twins are formed, the development of which stops in the early stages of pregnancy.
In eighty percent of cases, such embryos are located in the abdominal cavity of a normally developing and healthy child, much less often on the surface of his body. However, doctors first encountered a case when an underdeveloped fetus is located on the back.
The schoolgirl has now undergone a successful operation to remove the parasitic twin. “Based on a thorough examination, we made a decision about surgical intervention. And despite the lack of a clear plan of action, we managed to carry out a successful operation and remove the parasitic embryo from the girl's body,”says Professor Bogan Pang.