Korean Journal of Perinatology  2006;17(2):225-230

A Case of Fetus in Fetu.

Ji Young KIM 1 ; Seung Ho YANG ; Seong Yeun HONG ; Dae Hyeon CHOO ; Hoon Kyu OH ; Young Chan PARK ; Hai Lee CHUNG ; Woo Taek KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

Fetus in fetu; Retroperitoneal; Teratoma

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Fetus in fetu is an extremely uncommon cause of abdominal mass in the neonate with an incidence of 1 in 500,000 births. This is thought to occur when a monozygotic, diamniotic twin is incorporated into the body of its sibling early in embryonic development. A case of retroperitoneal fetus in fetu in a 3 day old male infant is reported, the excised round mass contained the vertebral column, 2 feet, 2 arms, small penis and testis. The presence of vertebral axis and organogenesis differentiates it from a teratoma. More than 100 cases of fetus in fetu have been reported, most of which have been in the abdomen. We report a case of a well developed fetus in the retroperitoneal area of a neonate delivered at term.