Instead of the enormous tumor they expected to find, the doctors who operated on Bhagat found the remains of a half-formed twin that had been living inside him. The condition, known as FETUS IN FETU occurs when one twin gets trapped inside the body of the other in the womb.
The little mermaidOnly a handful of children are known to have survived SIRENOMELIA, A birth defect—also known as mermaid syndrome—in which the legs are fused together.SHILOH PEPIN is one of them. In addition to having one large extremity where her legs should have been, Pepin was born with no reproductive organs, no rectum, and no bladder—just 6 inches of a large intestine and a quarter of a kidney.
Baby born twiceWhen Keri and Chad McCartney went to the ob-gyn to find out the sex of their baby-to-be six months into the pregnancy, they got some unexpected and frightening news: A grapefruit-size tumor was slowly killing the fetus. Doctors had to remove the tumor—although it wasn’t cancerous, it was sucking up the blood that the fetus needed to grow—and to do so, they performed a surgery that has been completed fewer than 20 times.They brought the baby about 80% out of her mother’s womb, excised the tumor, and then tucked her back in. Ten weeks later, in May 2008,MACIE HOPE was born—again. And this time for good.
Boy born with heart outside his chestWhen Christopher Wall was born with his heart beating outside his chest—an extremely rare birth defect known as ectopia cordis—doctors did not expect him to survive even one day.However, Wall just celebrated his 34th birthday. In his first 18 months of life, doctors performed 15 surgeries in an attempt to reposition Wall’s heart within his chest; when the risks became too great, they gave up and simply covered the heart with extra skin and, eventually, a sternum fashioned from a part of his hip bone.
With the extra aid of a plastic chest protector worn under his clothes, Wall took up basketball and karate, which he continues to enjoy today.
World’s oldest living conjoined twinsAt 57 years old, Ronnie and Donnie Galyon are the oldest living conjoined twins in the world, having far exceeded the life-span predictions that doctors made at their birth in 1951.
Joined at the base of their sternum, they have separate arms and legs, stomachs, lungs, and hearts, but they share one large intestine and one set of male reproductive organs. As children they worked in circus sideshows to help support their large family, and they continued to do so into the 1990s
Joined at the base of their sternum, they have separate arms and legs, stomachs, lungs, and hearts, but they share one large intestine and one set of male reproductive organs. As children they worked in circus sideshows to help support their large family, and they continued to do so into the 1990s
Most extensive face transplant everWhen her husband shot her in the face five years ago, connie culp was left with only fragments of her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip, and chin. In a 22-hour procedure in December 2008, surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic replaced 80% of Culp’s face with the face of a donor who had just died.
It was the most extensive and complex face transplant ever performed, the first in the United States, and just the fourth worldwide. Culp still draws stares from strangers, but she is finally able to talk, smile, smell, and taste again.
It was the most extensive and complex face transplant ever performed, the first in the United States, and just the fourth worldwide. Culp still draws stares from strangers, but she is finally able to talk, smile, smell, and taste again.
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