Doctors in Andhra Pradesh performed a rare surgery to cure a rare medical condition known as "lithopedion" or "stone baby" on a woman's abdominal cavity. The surgery, aimed at removing the calcifying remains of a 24-week-old fetus, took place at Doctors at King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam.
A 27-year-old patient, a mother of two from the Anakapalle district, was admitted to KGH in mid-August with severe abdominal pain. Upon examination, an MRI scan conducted by Dr. Vani, Professor of Obstetrics at KGH, revealed a calcified mass described as a "nest of bones" in her abdomen, including parts of a fetus such as the rib cage, skull, pelvic bones, and scapula, according to a report on NDTV.
The fetus reportedly grew for over 6 months and later died, as reported by The Hindu.
The medical team performed surgery on August 31, successfully removing the calcified fetus. The patient is reported to be recovering well.
What Is Stone Baby
The 'stone baby' phenomenon occurs when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy and becomes too large to be reabsorbed by the body, leading to calcification over time.
Lithopedion can develop at any stage from 14 weeks of gestation to full term. Remarkably, these "stone babies" can remain undetected for decades, sometimes being discovered only after a patient undergoes imaging for unrelated medical issues, often years after menopause.
Cases of lithopedion are reportedly extremely rare, but they highlight the complexity of the human body. In 2015, a 91-year-old woman in Chile, Estela Melendez, discovered that she had unknowingly carried a calcified fetus in her uterus for over 60 years.
The woman learned about it only when an X-ray was taken after a fall. In her case, the calcified fetus posed no health risk.