Baby born with a foot in his brain!
Surgeons carrying out an operation to remove a ‘tumour’ from a newborn baby’s brain were shocked to find a perfectly-formed tiny foot, and some other body parts.
Three-month-old Sam Esquibel has been hailed a ‘miracle baby’ after he survived the operation on what doctors believed was a large tumour, picked-up during an ultrasound on Sam’s heavily pregnant mother Tiffnie Esquibel.
Sam was born after an induced labour, allowing surgeons in Colorado to operate quickly.
Dr Grabb eventually removed the tumour, which was found to contain other partially formed body parts, including a thigh and a hand.
The body parts were found to be non-cancerous. Monthly tests on Sam have shown that it is not growing back.Now, a vertical scar on his right temple, above the ear and just where his hairline ends, is the only sign that Sam is a medical marvel.
Even the tiny blood vessels are visible in the foot
The tumour could be one of two rare birth conditions.
The first and more common is a teratoma, which is a mass that contains various incompletely formed body parts that may include hair and teeth.
The other condition, of which fewer than 100 have ever been reported in the world, is called fetus in fetu. The term literally means “fetus in fetus” and occurs when one twin engulfs the other in the womb.The engulfed twin feeds off the other as a sort of parasite and continues to grow and develop. Unless removed, it usually proves fatal.
The only noticeable side-effect of the operation is that Sam tends to fix his gaze towards the right side of his head where the tumour was.