7-month-old girl undergoes surgery to remove parasitic twin

A parasitic twin attached to the torso of a seven-month-old baby has been surgically removed at Tura Civil Hospital in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district, a hospital official said.

The child was born with the parasitic twin attached to the upper part of her abdomen and the lower part of her chest, he said.

Pediatric surgeon Lee Roger Ch Marak, along with Anaesthetist Stevie Jaseng N Sangma, conducted the operation, which lasted for several hours, the official noted.

The baby girl was admitted at the hospital on September 11, and after medical observations and investigations, the procedure to remove the parasitic twin was successfully undertaken last week, Tura Civil Hospital Superintendent M A Sangma said.

"It was a complicated case. The parasitic twin was connected to the vital organs of the living twin. The liver, prolapsed intestine of the twin had come out of the girl's umbilicus," she said.

A parasitic twin is a smaller and less-developed member of a pair of unequal conjoined twins, often in the form of an amorphous mass of tissue attached to or within the larger twin.

"Without surgical intervention, it would have severely affected the living twin's growth," Sangma added.