Korean J Perinatol.
2006 Jun;17(2):225-230.
A Case of Fetus in Fetu
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Korea. wootykim@cu.ac.kr
- 2Department of Obstetrics, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Korea.
- 3Department of Pediatric Surgery, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Korea.
- 4Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Korea.
- 5Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Korea.
Abstract
- Fetus in fetu is an extremely uncommon cause of abdominal mass in the neonate with an incidence of 1 in 500,000 births. This is thought to occur when a monozygotic, diamniotic twin is incorporated into the body of its sibling early in embryonic development. A case of retroperitoneal fetus in fetu in a 3 day old male infant is reported, the excised round mass contained the vertebral column, 2 feet, 2 arms, small penis and testis. The presence of vertebral axis and organogenesis differentiates it from a teratoma. More than 100 cases of fetus in fetu have been reported, most of which have been in the abdomen. We report a case of a well developed fetus in the retroperitoneal area of a neonate delivered at term.
