Headless 'Parasitic Twin' Removed From Infant's Back In Rare Surgery

An infant born with a headless parasitic twin attached to its lower back was successfully operated on by doctors. The parasitic twin had two legs, hands and a back but no head.

The two-hour-long surgery was performed by doctors of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in the Indian city of Lucknow, reported The Times Of India.

Doctors said the child was born to a woman in the village of Sitapur on Aug. 25. However, the family was aghast to see a headless mass with limbs attached to the baby's back. They took him to another hospital where doctors identified the mass as a "parasitic twin."

A parasitic twin is an identical twin that stopped developing during gestation but is physically attached to the fully-developing twin.

The parasitic twin never completes development and cannot survive on their own. Parasitic twins rarely or never have a complete brain or functional heart.

In most cases, the dominant twin looks like a normally-developed baby with extra limbs. However, without treatment, this twin may develop severe health problems from supporting the parasitic twin.

The child was referred to the KGMU after the diagnosis.

“The MRI showed that the mass was an abortive twin attached to the child’s back over the lumbar spine and spinal cord," Dr. J.D. Rawat, who headed the medical team, told The Times Of India.

The medical team then decided to separate the child from its parasite. The surgery was performed on Nov. 3, reported Newstrack.

According to Dr. Rawat, the infant and parasitic twin had interconnected nerves. However, the doctors successfully separated it from the developed baby through a two-hour-long surgery. "The child was successfully freed from the burden of the mass growing on its back and is doing well," he added. The KGMU medical team had performed two such surgeries in the past.

A similar case was reported in the Indian state of Delhi last week wherein a 25-year-old woman gave birth to an infant with a fetus attached to its stomach. The parasitic twin had a neck and head, but no limbs. Doctors found the surgery extremely challenging as the intestine of the baby was in a sac protruding into the parasitic twin’s neck, but they managed to successfully separate them.