Specialists say the extra limbs belonged to a parasitic twin that did not get to fully develop in the womb

Sep 12, 2014 19:57 GMT  ·  By

Last month, surgeons in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, operated on a young boy who was in dire need of medical attention after being born with several extra limbs. The intervention went well, and recent reports say that the infant is feeling better each day.

His parents and doctors are monitoring him around the clock, and say that the child is doing just fine. He feels well enough to be breastfed by his mother, and is expected to eventually make a full recovery and be sent home.

An odd medical case

According to doctors working at the Mulago Hospital in the city of Kampala, the boy, identified as Paul Mukisa, was born with four extra limbs, i.e. two hands and two legs, attached to his body. At first, specialists assumed that these limbs were his.

However, after carrying out more tests, they found that the extra hands and legs actually belonged to a so-called parasitic twin that failed to properly develop while in the womb and that instead was absorbed by young Paul.

As detailed by New York Daily News, this twin had no head, no heart, and no other major organs. Hence, specialists agreed that is was possible to remove the limbs, and give the boy a fighting chance to lead a normal life.

The surgery

The boy's parents, Margaret Awino and Boniface Okongo from the Nabigingo village, remember that, after having one quick look at young Paul, local doctors in their district told them that there was nothing they could do to help the infant.

Luckily, specialists working at the Mulago Hospital agreed to at least try and help the boy and his family. To minimize the risk for complications, the team of doctors who saved the kid's life only operated on him when he was about 3 months old.

“The baby was given general anaesthesia and the torso and trunk of the parasitic twin, which had two arms but no head or heart, was detached from the host baby,” Dr. Nasser Kakembo said. Furthermore, “Then we also detached the lower limbs of the parasitic twin from the host, which included disarticulating the right and left lower limbs as they were attached by joints.”

During surgery, they not only removed the extra limbs, but also repositioned his heart and his liver, neither of which was in its rightful place. Despite being very young, Paul Mukisa survived the hours-long intervention, much to the delight of his parents.

Seeing how the boy is doing well and has quite an appetite, chances are that his parents will very soon be given permission to take him home.