Doctor Finds Foot On Baby’s Brain
In Colorado Springs, Colo., a pediatric neurosurgeon removed a tumor from the brain of an infant, which contained a tiny foot and other partially formed body parts.
Dr. Paul Grabb said he operated on Sam Esquibel at the Memorial Hospital for Children after an MRI showed a microscopic tumor on the newborn’s brain, perfect foot and the formation of another foot, a hand and a thigh.
"It looked like the breach delivery of a baby, coming out of the brain," Grabb said. "To find a perfectly formed structure (like this) is extremely unique, unusual, borderline unheard of."
The doctor is unsure what caused the growth, but says it may have been a type of congenital brain tumor. But, he said such tumors are less complex than a foot or hand.
Grabb said that the growth may also have been a case of "fetus in fetu," in which a fetal twin begins to form within another, but this very rarely occurs in the brain.
Tiffnie and Manuel Esquibel, Sam’s parents, said their son is at home but now faces a monthly blood test to check for signs of cancer or re-growth, along with physical therapy to improve the use of his neck. They say he has mostly recovered from the Oct. 3 surgery though.
"You’d never know if he didn’t have a scar there," Tiffnie Esquibel said.
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