Pakistani doctors are battling the odds to save a newborn baby born with a rare genetic condition that has left him with six legs.
The one-week-old boy is believed to be one of parasitic twins.
His conjoined twin was born prematurely and incompletely developed, which resulted in the second child having the extra legs, said Jamal Raza, director of the National Institute of Child Health in Karachi, to News.com.
Critical: Doctors in Pakistan are fighting to save the life of the baby boy who was born last week with six legs because of a rare genetic condition
Doctors at the institute are fighting to save the newborn, who remains in an intensive care unit ward.
Raza added that they were planning to operate on the boy and were considering asking for help from foreign experts with more experience in the rare disease, believed to afflict just one in one million babies.
Speaking to the news site, the baby's father, Imran Shaikh, made a plea for help from the government and charities.
Medical marvel: Since Shaikh made his public plea for help, the Sindh Governor has come forward and directed officials concerned to make sure the child receives all the medical care he needs
‘I can’t afford to visit Karachi and get treatment for my baby,’ said the X-ray technician, who earns the equivalent of $66-a-month. ‘I appeal to philanthropists and the government to come forward for the treatment.’
PARASITIC TWINS
A parasitic twin is sometimes referred to as an asymmetrical or unequal conjoined twin.
It occurs when a twin embryo begins developing in utero, but the pair does not fully separate.
One embryo continues developing at the expense of the other (the parasitic) which will rely on the body of the other for blood supply and organ function.
It is incompletely developed and dependent on the other twin.
The independent twin is called the autosite.
In some cases the body of one twin absorbs the other during development, known as fetus in fetu.
In January a boy in Peru was operated on to remove his parasitic twin from his stomach.
Shaikh and his wife of four years live in Sukkur, around 280 miles north of where his son is being cared for. His wife is reported to be recovering well from the birth and in a good state of health.
In a statement given to the AFP news wire, the provincial health department said: 'The doctors are examining the infant to plan for necessary treatment to save the baby's life and ensure he lives a normal life.'
Muhammad Qaisar, a doctor at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, told allvoices.com he was certain the boy could be successfully operated on. ‘It is perhaps [the] first child in the history of Pakistan having six legs,’ he said.
‘The case will also be a test for doctors and we hope for the better,” he said.
Since Shaikh made his public plea for help, the Sindh Governor has come forward and directed officials concerned to make sure the child receives all the medical care he needs, Pakistani basedThe Nation reported.
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