Doctors operated on a two-year-old south Indian girl yesterday to remove an extra set of arms and legs that she was born with. The limbs and extra internal organs belonged to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in the womb and became part of the surviving featus. The little girl, named Lakshmi after a Hindu goddess with four arms, is now recovering after a team of more than 30 surgeons in Bangalore worked to remove the twin's limbs and organs and separate the fused spines. From the Associated Press:
The operation included transplanting a good kidney into Lakshmi from the twin. The team also used tissue from the twin to help rebuild the pelvic area, one of the most complicated parts of the surgery, (lead surgeon Sharan) Patil said.
"Beyond our expectations, the reconstruction worked wonderfully well," Patil said. "We were able to bring the pelvic bones together successfully, which takes away the need for another procedure," he said.
However, she will have to have further treatments and possible surgery for clubbed feet before she would be able to walk, he said.
