KLES Hospital Performs Rare ‘Fetus-in-Fetu’ Surgery

In a rare medical phenomenon, a baby girl from Chandgad, Belgaum, Maharashtra, was found to carry her twin fetus in her abdomen—a condition called fetus-in-fetu, seen in about 1 in 500,000 births.

The abnormality was initially picked up in an ultrasound at 28 weeks of pregnancy. Dr. Sanjay Shanbag, a native of Goa but now working in Gadhinglaj, spotted what looked like a cyst in the fetus's abdomen. Closer inspection found it to be a fetus.

After a normal delivery at 37 weeks, the baby was immediately referred to KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital for expert surgical treatment. Three days old, pediatric surgeon Dr. Swapnil Pattanshetti, with the help of Dr. Saksham, conducted a complicated surgery to excise the parasitic twin. The amniotic cyst that held the fetus was finely located between major blood vessels such as the inferior vena cava, right renal vessels, and aorta. The team of surgeons carefully dissected and excised the cyst without opening it or harming the fetal structures.

The surgery was conducted with anesthesia by Dr. Rajesh Mane and Dr. Priyanka Gadvi, who were also responsible for extubation of the baby after the procedure. Post-op care was followed in the NICU under guidance from neonatologists Dr. Manisha Bhandankar and Dr. Ram Bhatt. The infant is said to be recovering successfully.

Fetus-in-fetu is a very rare condition that arises from faulty embryonic development in diamniotic, monochorionic twin pregnancies. Early in gestation, one twin wraps around the other, forming a parasitic relationship wherein the twin in the centre grows dependent on the blood supply of the host. ^[1]

KLES Chairman Dr. Prabhakar Kore felt proud of the achievement of his medical team. Medical Director Dr. (Col) Dayanand and other directors also congratulated the successful surgery, urging people to place complicated medical cases in KLES Hospital's care.

Reference:

1. Gupta, Rajeev K., Sudhir K. Saran, Ankur Sinha, and Arun K. Singh. "Fetus-in-Fetu: A Pediatric Rarity." Journal of Pediatric Neurosciences 9, no. 3 (2014): 305–307. Accessed February 19, 2025. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4164195/.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Pragati Sakhuja/MSM)