Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Watch : Foot Grows In Baby's Brain






A baby was born with a foot, hand, thigh and intestinal pieces in its brain. Brain surgery was performed in Colorado and the baby seems to be doing well other than a few minor problems that need to be addressed such as visual processing problems.

I’ve seen my share of medical abnormalities in medical books, odd websites and other means, but this one has to be one of the strangest.Neuroscience continues to awe me and the fact that the baby is doing fairly well following such an intensive brain surgery is incredible.



The child's name is Sam, and the mother said that Sam is a miracle. According to ABC 7 News "Sam's mom, Tiffnie, told TheDenverChannel on Wednesday that her son is doing well but that she didn't want to appear on camera because she doesn't want to exploit her child and make him appear like a freak in the eyes of the world."

Sam is reported to be alert and happy. He has some weakness on one side of his body with some trouble with eye function, but is undergoing rehabilitation. This should improve with time.

Because there is some risk of the tumor returning, Sam will need to be monitored over the next months and years to come. His mother Tiffnie said she doesn't mind driving to the hospital every week or month for Sam's MRI and blood checks, considering that he is healthy and happy.

Ultrasounds had shown a mass in his brain, and he was scheduled for surgery just three days post-partum. But what the doctors found when they got inside his skull shocked them - two tiny feet, a hand, and a thigh, along with several loops of partially-formed intestine.Surgeons removed the growth from Sam Esquibel's head days after his birth in October, and the three-month-old boy is now said to be fit and healthy.

New photos of the operation show the blood vessels inside the tumour, which also included other partially-formed body parts including a second foot, a hand and a thigh.Doctors now believe that the condition was probably a teratoma, a type of tumour that contains hair, teeth, bones and body organs but usually does not occur in the brain.

Another theory is that Sam suffered from a condition called fetus in fetu in which one twin envelops the other, but the disorder is so rare that there have been fewer than 100 reported incidents in the world.

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