Baby Separated From Parasitic Twin After 7-Hour-Long Surgery In Meghalaya

A parasitic twin, attached to the torso of a seven-month-old baby has been surgically removed at after a 7-hour-long surgery at a hospital in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district, a hospital official said.

The baby girl was admitted at the hospital on September 11, and after medical observations and investigations, the procedure to remove the parasitic twin was successfully undertaken last week, Hospital Superintendent MA Sangma said.

"It was a complicated case. The parasitic twin was connected to the vital organs of the living twin. The liver prolapsed intestine of the twin had come out of the girl's umbilicus," she said.

A parasitic twin is a smaller and less-developed member of a pair of unequal conjoined twins, often in the form of an amorphous mass of tissue attached to or within the larger twin.

Without surgical intervention, it would severely affects the living twin's growth.