A ``fetus with limbs'' is removed from the brain of a 1-year-old child

A rare case was reported in China where a fetus was removed from the brain of a one-year-old child .

Teaching NeuroImage: Intraventricular Fetus-in-Fetu With Extensive De Novo Gain in Genetic Copy Number | Neurology

https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000201578

Parasitic twin found in brain of 1-year-old Chinese girl | Miami Herald
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article272892980.html

In extremely rare case, doctors remove fetus from brain of 1-year-old | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/in-extremely-rare-case-doctors-remove-fetus-from-brain-of-1-year-old

During the development of twin fetuses in the mother's womb, a phenomenon may occur in which one fetus is absorbed into the other. In the past, a girl with four arms and four legs was born by joining one of the twins. Such a ``child born with the body of one of the twins absorbed'' is called a ``parasitic twin,'' and it is said that the probability of being born is 1 in 500,000.

As mentioned above, parasitic twins are a widely known case medically, but ``cases where fetuses were absorbed into the brain'' are extremely rare. Looking at the CT scan image of the patient's brain reported this time, it can be seen that something that resembles a human skeleton is visible inside the brain.

The 1-year-old patient, who was confirmed to have a fetus in his brain, had an enlarged head and a growth delay compared to children of the same age. The medical team decided to remove the fetus to protect the patient's health.

Below is a photo of the removed fetus (click to remove the mosaic). The body length is about 10 cm, and structures like hands and feet can be seen.

As mentioned above, the surgery to remove the fetus from the patient's brain was successful, but the postoperative course is not clear.

Although this case of a fetus being absorbed into the brain is extremely rare, it is not the first time it has been confirmed. For example, in 1982, a case was reported in which a 14 cm long fetus was removed from the brain of a 6 week old child.

Intraventricular fetus-in-fetu in: Journal of Neurosurgery Volume 56 Issue 6 (1982) Journals
https://doi.org/10.3171/jns.1982.56.6.0845