Rare congenital anomaly ‘foetus in foetu’ successfully operated at KMCRI in Hubballi

The doctors of Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute (KMCRI) here have successfully operated on a case of ‘foetus in foetu’, a rare congenital anomaly in which a malformed foetus grows within the body of its twin.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, director of KMCRI Dr. Ishwar Hosamani said that it was a rare case which was one in 5 lakh and the KMCRI had successfully operated and removed it.

Dr. Hosamani said that a pregnant woman from Pashupatihal village of Kundagol taluk of Dharwad district had given birth to a baby boy weighing 3.5 kg on September 23 via normal delivery. “During scanning, bone-like structures were found in the baby in the womb, but till the delivery, no further growth was seen in the baby. But after the baby was born and scanning was done, the structures remained the same, and with further testing, it was diagnosed as a case of ‘foetus in foetu’. Paediatric surgeon Dr. Rajshankar and his team conducted the surgery on October 7 and the baby boy has completely recovered now,” Dr. Hosamani said.

He said the parents of the child had been advised to take adequate precautions in the upbringing of the child and KMCRI would ensure that the child was brought for checkups at regular intervals, he said.

In another case, a woman with diabetes who had no pulse and blood flow in her left hand was successfully operated on by KMCRI doctors. The woman was brought to the hospital in an emergency. The Fogarty catheter, which was not available at KMCRI, was immediately procured through available local grants, and the operation was successfully conducted on October 7 by Dr. Kobanna Kattimani and team, Dr. Hosamani said.

To a query, Dr Hosamani said that during the current year, a total of 75,227 surgeries had been carried out by KMCRI, including 15,382 major operations and 59,845 daycare operations. An average of 252 surgeries were done at KMCRI daily, he said.

He said that the work on the IFV block and the critical care block was under way and a new Outpatient Department counter had already been commissioned. He said that various recruitments were being made on priority through an outsourcing mode.

Medical superintendent Dr. Ishwar Hasabi, Dr. Rajashekhar, Dr Rajshekhar Dyaberi, Dr. Suryakanth, Dr. Rajashankar, Dr. Rupali Wadeyar, Dr. Kobanna Kattimani and other doctors were present.