Fetus in fetu

As a fetus (Latin correctly fetus in fetu ) in feto also Inclusio fetalis ( Latin for "the inclusion of the fetus " ) or Germanized fetal inclusion, a very rare medical phenomenon is referred to, in which develop first, two or more fetuses in the womb and thereafter, unlike each other verwachsenden Siamese twins, one fetus or more fetuses incorporated into the other. Worldwide less than a hundred such cases are known.

Possible sequelae

Occasionally, it comes through largely unexplored trigger factors (perhaps by growth hormones or carcinogens ) after years or decades before that, in the surviving twin is starting preserved embryonic pluripotent stem cells to multiply and differently to differentiate far, so that the body of the survivors at atypical locations - such as the abdominal cavity or skull - at once hair, teeth or other relatively well- differentiated tissue can be found. Such cell proliferation is conspicuous either by physical discomfort or an incidental finding in studies for other reasons (ultrasound, X-rays ) during his lifetime or at an autopsy after death.

Notable cases

The rarely occurring phenomenon for example, was around 2003 in Kazakhstan, diagnosed in June 2005 and in Bangladesh in November 2006 in Chile. In the first two cases, the fetus developed and two kilograms was surgically removed from the abdomen of a 7 years and 16 -year-old child. In the latter case, the ten -centimeter fetus, however, was developed only incompletely and was removed from the abdomen of otherwise healthy boy surgically.

1999 The most spectacular case occurred in India in the 36 -year-old Sanju Bhagat, from whose stomach was removed a partially differentiated people.

A further case on 15 May 2008 in Greece. There was a nine- year-old girl operated on a six -centimeter fetus from the abdomen in the Larissa General Hospital of the Thessalian city of Larissa. He was partially differentiated, with long hair, spine and eyes.

Reception in the media

In addition to reporting and documentaries you will also find an extrapolated into the fantastic literary treatment of the topic in Stephen King's novel Stark - The Dark Half.

In the television series South Park, in the episode ( Episode 18 ) " Beautiful Fetus Lady would " Nurse Gollum shown with a dead fetus that has grown on her left cheek. This phenomenon is there as " Conjoined Twins Myslexia " (eng: " Conjoined Twin Myslexia " ) refers to what may be interpreted as a fetus in feto. Whether the translators of South Park, however, was aware that the fetal inclusion exists is unclear.