4-month-old calcified foetus removed from abdomen after 15 years

Nagpur: A woman had been carrying a four-month-old dead foetus, in a calcified (stone-like) condition, in her abdomen for the past 15 years. She had conceived the baby in her abdomen instead of the uterus. City surgeon Dr Nilesh Junankar removed the mass successfully, and the woman has been relieved of the terrible pain and other associated problems she had been suffering due to it all these years.

This was the woman’s second baby, which she had aborted as per the obstetrician and gynecologist (OBGY) treating her, since the family had decided against a second child.

The ‘stone baby’ or Lithopedion, as it is called in medical terms, is a very rare occurrence and so far only about 300 such cases have been reported in past 400 years worldwide. The first such case was reported by an Arab physician Abu-al-Quasim (936-1013) in the 10th century. Since it was not known to Greek and Roman physicians then, it was not mentioned in the writings of Hippocrates. Dr Junankar told TOI that the chances of abdominal pregnancy are one in 11,000 pregnancies, and only 1.5 to 1.8% of the abdominal pregnancies develop into Lithopedion.

Dr Mangala Ketkar, a senior OBGY, explained to TOI that Lithopedion baby was very rare. “The fertilized egg sometimes moves from the tubes into the abdomen and starts growing there. But it cannot grow fully and is sucked in into the peritoneum and converted into stone. In this case, since the patient went for abortion, and her periods were restored, neither she nor anyone one else could have thought she was pregnant thereafter unless a sonography was done. It’s good that Dr Junankar could diagnose the problem and remove the baby,” said Dr Ketkar.

Dr Junankar said the patient had her first baby in 2000. But she became pregnant again in 2002. The family didn’t want a second baby, so they opted for a medical termination. The baby was then aborted and she resumed her periods. “Since no sonography was done, neither she nor the doctor thought the baby was still there. Since MTP was done in early pregnancy, there was no need for a sonography. She used to have recurrent pain in abdomen and visited several doctors. Everyone treated her for the symptoms,” he said.

Over the years, the pain and misery increased. She started vomiting. One of her friends referred her to Dr Junankar, who found in CAT scan investigations an obstruction in the intestine, which was blocking the digestive system.

“I first performed a laparoscopic surgery, but couldn’t succeed. Then I went for open surgery and had to remove about four feet of intestine, which was completely damaged. It came as a surprise to all present in the operation theatre as a fully developed baby foetus was stuck to the intestine. But luckily, other parts were not damaged. Had the intestine itself torn, there would have been serious consequences. The patient could have even died. The patient had stopped menstruating five years back and out of child bearing age. She was lucky to have survived like this,” said Dr Junankar.