Woman’s brain tumor turns out to be ‘evil twin’ complete with bone, hair and teeth
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Source: Washington Post
April 23, 2015
Shahinian made a tiny incision in the back of Karanam’s head, then strung an endoscope into her skull and through a natural channel in her brain to the site of the tumor. That’s when the doctor made a startling discovery.
Karanam’s tumor wasn’t just a tumor. It was a teratoma: a clump of bone, hair and teeth. A Frankenstein’s monster within Karanam’s own mind.
Teratomas have baffled scientists for almost a century. Some have speculated that they are basically twins that never quite develop and are instead absorbed into the surviving baby’s body. In fact, newborns occasionally have large teratomas attached to them like a conjoined twin. Other times, it’s not until adulthood that people realize they have one. In 2009, a British man named Gavin Hyatt “gave birth” to an “undeveloped identical twin” when a small lump pushed its way out of his abdomen. Hyatt named the tiny creature “little Gav.” Earlier this year, doctors in Hong Kong discovered two partially developed fetuses inside a newborn’s abdomen.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/23/womans-brain-tumor-turns-out-to-be-evil-twin-complete-with-bone-hair-and-teeth/?wprss=rss_homepage
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