Baby with two pairs of lower limbs successfully operated upon

Parents of a baby born with two pairs of lower limbs and two sets of genitals heaved a sigh of relief after a successful corrective surgery at a private hospital in Bengaluru.

The baby, born to a couple from Puladinni village, was delivered at a primary health centre in Raichur.

The poor couple could not afford the treatment. The child was later treated at Narayana Health City in Bengaluru free of cost. Speaking about the case, doctors at Narayana Health City said that there could be two theories behind the condition. While one hypothesis is based on the twinning process when twin babies are developed in the uterus, in the other, it could be of a second baby (the parasite) that was not properly formed. If the parasite does not develop its own heart and circulation, it gets attached to the host baby (called autosite).

The other formation, doctors believe is the formation of specific types of tumours (called foetus in foetu). In this situation, the tumour itself matures to such an extent that it starts to form body parts such as spine, some bones or various other organs.

The child was admitted on January 24 at Narayana Health City. The team comprising paediatric surgeons, anaesthetists, surgical nurses and theatre technicians performed the surgery.

Having travelled 300 km, it was dehydrated and was put on oxygen support. “Since the parasitic twin did not have its own heart, it was getting blood supply from the baby. Blood supply and connection of blood vessels was important to safely separate the two,” Dr Sanjay Rao, senior consultant paediatric surgeon, said.

Doctors treating the baby at Narayana Health City confirmed that the baby has recovered well and is off all medicines and antibiotics.