Brain Surgery News

Foot found in newborn baby's brain

A doctor in Colorado finds a foot, hand, thigh and intestinal pieces in a newborn baby's brain.

December 17, 2008
Three day old Sam Esquibel has become the central figure for one of the strangest cases in medical history after doctors discovered a small foot growing inside his brain.

After his birth on October 1st, the Colorado Springs infant underwent an ultrasound examination. The results discovered what appeared to be a tumor developing in the child's brain. Placed under the medical care of pediatric surgeon Dr. Paul Grabb, the infant underwent surgery on the third day of his life.

What appeared to be a routine operation to remove a tumor at the Memorial Hospital for Children, became an astounding event. Dr. Grabb discovered human parts including a foot, hand, thigh and intestinal pieces within the tiny child's brain.

Dr. Grabb commented to the Colorado Springs Gazette: "I've never seen anything like it before. It looked like the breach delivery of a baby coming out of the brain."

Doctors are confused at the reasons for these abnormal growths. They consider one option to be a Teratoma, a congenital brain tumor that is often composed of foreign tissues such as hair or teeth. However, Teratoma occurrences do not generally produce complex growths such as fully developed appendages.

Others have speculated that the growths could have been caused by the developmental abnormality, Fetus in Fetu. This abnormality occurs when a fetal twin grows within a developing fetus. The abnormality occurs in 1 in 500,000 live births.

According to Sam's mother Tiffnie, the child is doing very well after the operation which saved his life. She refuses to appear on camera with her son, in fear that this might have an adverse effect on her child's well-being.

Sam is still in recovery from the operation two months ago, but is said to be "alert and happy". The child shows weakness on one side of his body and has trouble with some visual processing.

Tiffnie considers her son to be a real "miracle baby." She and her partner had tried to conceive for a number of years and had given up hope of having their own child, when she surprisingly discovered she was pregnant with Sam earlier this year.

Source: Neuroscience News

Author: Victoria Driscoll

Medical Curiosities : A Miscellany of Medical Oddities, Horrors and Humors