This passing year threw at us some rather baffling medical cases which left us speechless.Here is a quick look at such unusual cases that cropped up this year.

The human body is so wonderful that it doesn’t cease to amaze us. Whenever the scientists think that they have unraveled its mystery, the human body throws up new challenges, more complex than the previous ones. As we wind up this year, we bring you some rather unusual medical cases, which have left many of us wondering about the human body.

Cases from India

1. Woman carries a calcified foetus for 15 years

A woman had been carrying a dead or calcified foetus in her abdomen for last 15 years.After several years of suffering the lady approached a specialist surgeon. The diagnostic tests showed that there was an obstruction in her food pipe and intestine. However, it was during the surgery, that the doctors found a fully-grown stone fetus (a.k.a. Lithopedion) in her intestines, which was removed in a two-hour surgery. The calcified fetus was found to be 4-months-old. The doctor explained that the lady’s ovaries, uterus, and fallopian tubes are all in a normal state; they also explained that the lady stopped menstruating five years back. Lithopedion or stone baby occurrences are extremely rare and only 300 cases were reported globally in past 400 years. The ratio of abdominal pregnancy is 1:11,000 pregnancies and only about 1.5 – 1.8 cases of abdominal pregnancies develop into Lithopedia.

2. A mermaid baby

A bizarre case was noticed in West Bengal, where a 23-year-old lady gave birth to a baby with fused legs, mermaid-like features.The baby born with a rare condition, Sirenomelia, also known as Mermaid Syndrome, died just four hours after it was born.According to the reports, the baby had a normal formation in upper part of the body but the lower part of the body, below the waist, was not developed completely. 

3. A 15-pound metal waste found in a man’s stomach

The urge to consume metal has led to a bizarre medical case in India. A man in India was found to have 15-pound metal waste in his stomach; the person sought medical attention after suffering severe abdominal pain.The doctors conducted endoscopy to reveal a tear in the stomach muscle due to the metal was causing the pain. After a successful surgery, the doctors have found different types of metal waste in his stomach that included 236 coins, 100 nails, glass pieces and several metal plates. The doctors further concluded that the patient had loss of hemoglobin due to nails piercing into his stomach, and no other internal organs were damaged. Upon insisting, the patient confessed that he was consuming metal for a year and didn’t let anyone know.

Cases from around the globe

1. Woman sweats blood- hematohidrosis

When we work out, we sweat…how bizarre it is to bleed instead of sweating! In October 2017, a 21-year-old Italian woman was reported to have an extremely rare disorder called ‘Hematohidrosis’ – which means she sweats blood from her face and palms without any cuts or lesions. The woman revealed that there was no certain trigger that causes her to sweat blood. The diagnosis revealed her blood-clotting functions and other blood parameters to be normal; the disorder could be due to the rupture of blood vessels passing into the sweat glands. The doctors have concluded that there is no cure for this rare disorder, but the symptoms can subside by using beta-blockers. The prevalence of the condition is very very rare, and only 1 among 10 million people are affected and only 28 cases were reported in past 13 years.

2. Miniature skull found in a 16-year-old’s ovary

Earlier this year, a 16-year-old girl from Japan was found to have a tiny brain growing in her ovary.While performing a routine appendectomy, the surgeons discovered an unusual ovarian tumor containing bits of hair, a thin plate of bone—and a miniature brain.The tumour, also called an ovarian teratoma, was 3-centimeter-wide greasy brain-like structure. The brain showed a large amount of highly organized and differentiated cerebellum tissue.Incredibly, the well-developed mini-brain was capable of transmitting electric impulses between neurons, just like a normal brain.  However, the woman didn’t experience any abnormal symptoms before being operated; the tumor was removed, and she recovered well.