Ultrasonic prenatal diagnosis of fetus in fetu

Abstract

"Fetus in fetu" is a rare pathologic feature consisting of a parasitic twin included within the body of the other twin. ' As reported by Lee,2 only 13 cases have been described since 1900. Nearly all cases were diagnosed during surgery within the first year ofWe report a case detected during a prenatal ultrasound examination as a fetal abdominal mass. CASE REPORTS.L., a 20-year-old woman in her first pregnancy, was referred to our Department at the 35th week for a suspected fetal anomaly detected elsewhere by means of ultrasound.Sonography showed a single fetus whose size was appropriate for gestational age (biparietal diameter = 91.6 mm; abdominal circumference = 31.7 cm). Fetal heart activity was present and normal and the amniotic fluid was of normal quantity. A fairly well defined, round mass, 40 mm in diameter, was evident anterior to the left fetal kidney and cranial to the urine bladder (Fig. 1).Irregular, strong echoes just in the middle of this "complex" mass were observed. Location in the kidney was excluded and a fetal teratoma suspected.At the 40th week, a male infant weighing 3340 g was vaginally delivered. Apgar score was 7 at 1 min and 9 at 5 min.A mobile abdominal mass was palpable in the left flank of the newborn child; no signs of urinary or gastroenteric tract involvement occurred and common laboratory results were normal.Ultrasonic examination at the first day of life confirmed the size and characteristics of the mass.

Three‐dimensional sonographic imaging of a highly developed fetus in fetu with spontaneous movement of the extremities.

“…Although the diagnosis of an FIF has traditionally been made in infancy or childhood, there are an increasing number of diagnoses being made prenatally on the basis of sonography. 1,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] This report describes the prenatal diagnosis of an FIF with an extraordinarily high degree of differentiation using two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) sonographic imaging.Abbreviations FIF, fetus in fetu; 3D, three-dimensional; 2D, two-dimensional…”

A Rare Case Report of Foetus in Foetu

“…(9) In today's technologically advanced world, prenatal diagnosis is on the rise. Diagnosis with US was first reported by Nicolini et al (10) CONCLUSION Foetus-in-foetu (FIF) is a rarely diagnosed condition. FIF could be considered as a rare differential of teratoma in an infant or young child presenting with progressively increasing abdominal swelling and vomiting.…”

Fetus-in-fetu: Parasite or Neoplasm?

“…In 1983, Nicolini et al [8] reported a case of fetus-in-fetu diagnosed after birth in which a cystic tumor in a fetus that included a solid calcified component surrounded by fluid turned out to be fetus-in-fetu. In 1997, Chen et al [9] reported a case prenatally diagnosed as fetus-in-fetu by identification of a calcified vertebral column and long bones within a fetal intra-abdominal cystic mass.…”