In a first, Delhi AIIMS docs treat rare parasitic twin condition in 17-yr-old boy

NEW DELHI: Doctors at AIIMS Delhi have successfully removed two extra lower limbs hanging out of the abdomen of a 17-year-old boy, a procedure they claimed was conducted for the first time at the premier hospital.

The doctors said the condition is known as ‘incomplete parasitic twin’, and going by medical literature, only 40 such cases have been reported globally till date, that too detected at a young age.

Dr Asuri Krishna, additional professor in the department of surgery, said the boy, a native of Balia in Uttar Pradesh, came to the surgery OPD in the last week of January with two extra lower limbs hanging out of his abdomen.

“We had heard about twin pregnancies. Sometimes, twin fetuses fail to separate from each other in the womb and are born as conjoined twins. Very rarely does one of the twins not form completely and is born attached to the other twin as a parasitic limb. While conjoined twins are rare, this case was even rarer than that… It was a one in a million case,” Krishna said.

The doctor further said that majority of such cases come to notice at an early age, but this patient came at the age of 17 as he didn’t get a proper diagnosis earlier.

It was a difficult case as the patient had a complex anatomy, so experts from multiple departments had to get involved, he said.

The patient was operated upon on February 8 and kept in the ICU for 24 hours for monitoring. He was discharged on the fourth day after surgery, Krishna said.

The two-hour surgery at AIIMS Delhi successfully removed a parasitic twin and cysts. The boy, once a social outcast, is now free from stigma and eager to start school, doctors said.