In a remarkable display of medical expertise and compassion, a team of doctors in Delhi, India, has accomplished a groundbreaking surgery that has altered the course of a 17-year-old boy’s life. The young patient, burdened with a “parasitic” twin attached to his abdomen, underwent a two-hour procedure at Aiims hospital that would forever change his future.
The concept of a parasitic twin, an underdeveloped conjoined sibling reliant on its host for survival, is an exceedingly rare occurrence, with less than one reported case per 100,000 births. In this instance, the teenager bore the weight of a fully formed additional set of limbs and a pelvis, sustained by a chest artery. Dr. Asuri Krishna, the lead surgeon overseeing this delicate operation, emphasized the challenges inherent in operating on a patient of this age, given the scarcity of relevant medical literature.
“Only 40-50 documented cases of parasitic twins exist in global medical archives, most involving surgical interventions on children,” Dr. Krishna shared with the BBC. Faced with a lack of established protocols, the surgical team relied on their expertise, intuition, and collective knowledge to navigate this intricate procedure successfully.
The anomaly of parasitic twins arises when one fetus incompletely develops while attached to its counterpart, resulting in a shared physiological connection. In this specific case, the teen exhibited two fully developed legs, buttocks, and external genitalia, weighing nearly 15kg, protruding from his abdomen. Astonishingly, these parasitic limbs demonstrated sensory capabilities, enabling the patient to experience pain, touch, and changes in temperature.
Prior to the surgery, meticulous scans revealed the extent of interconnection between the parasitic and host twins, with the former primarily attached to the teen’s breastbone and receiving blood supply from a chest vessel. Fortunately, limited connections with vital organs such as the liver or kidneys eased the surgical complexity, although a sizable cyst within the abdominal cavity presented an additional challenge.
The surgical procedure unfolded in two stages – initial removal of the parasitic twin, followed by excision of the cystic mass intertwined with neighboring organs. A multidisciplinary team comprising radiologists, anesthetists, and plastic surgeons executed the operation with precision, unraveling a web of shared blood vessels, nerves, and tissues while safeguarding the host’s vital organs from harm.
During the surgery, the patient experienced a critical drop in blood pressure as a substantial portion of his blood supply flowed to the parasitic twin. Despite this alarming development, the medical team anticipated and managed the situation adeptly, ensuring the teen’s stability and well-being throughout the procedure.
Remarkably, the resilient patient was discharged just four days post-surgery, having encountered no postoperative complications. Dr. Krishna affirmed the young man’s physical recovery and expressed optimism regarding his future prospects, free from the physical and emotional burdens that had
