Doctors Successfully Remove 'Third' Arm Growing from Girl's Back

By Claire Bates, DAILY MAIL

Credit: BMJ Case Reports 2012; doi:10.1136/bcr.03.2012.6150

The 11-year-old Chinese girl was found to have a malformed parasitic twin on her back.

November 16, 2012 Updated Nov 16, 2012 at 12:20 PM PDT

Doctors were stunned after an 11-year-old schoolgirl was admitted to a hospital in China with a third arm sprouting out of her back. The large mass was revealed to be part of an identical twin that had failed to develop and had been enveloped into the body of its sister.

Further investigation found it consisted of a breast and an arm which included a shoulder blade and two fingers.

Writing in the journal BMJ Case Reports, Prof Peng said: 'Based on physical examination and imaging findings, a diagnosis of fetus in fetu was made preoperatively.'

Fetus in fetu in an incredibly rare condition that affects only one in five million live births. It is a condition where the malformed fetus is found in the body of its twin.

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