Surprise: Feet, Hand and Thigh Found in Baby's Brain |
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Editors published 12/18/2008 3:10:00 PM
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Source: Foot Grows in Baby's Brain Lauren Cox , ABCNews.com
Doctors were surprised when they found 2 feet, a thigh, and a hand in a baby's brain. They thought they were removing a tumor from a 3 day old baby's brain.
They were unsure if the limbs were from a stem cell gone wild or the remains of an identical twin.
A doctor in Colorado found a surprise when removing what he thought was a benign growth from a newborn's brain. Instead of a microscopic tumor, out popped a tiny foot, partially formed hand, a thigh and another partially formed foot.
The baby, Sam Esquibel, was 3 days old when doctors at Memorial Hospital for Children in Colorado Springs discovered a microscopic tumor in his brain. A hospital representative said Sam is alive and recovering well after his operation, but his family declined to discuss his case further until its interview with ABC's "20/20" in January.
Whether the growth was the remains of a twin sibling or the work of renegade stem cells in Sam's body is hard to tell.
But stem cell experts who study teratoma believe the body parts are likely the result of fetus in fetu.
"This is pretty bizarre. ... It's certainly possible [it's a teratoma]," said Ed Morrisey, the scientific director of the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Philadelphia.
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