An 82-year-old woman, who was admitted to hospital with stomach pains, was found to have a 32-week-old calcified foetus in her abdomen.
The Columbian woman is believed to have carried the lithopedion or ‘stone baby’, which was discovered by X-ray at a centre in Bogota, for 40 years.
According to reports the phenomenon occurs when the baby develops outside of the uterus and cannot be absorbed back into the body. The body then defends itself from infection by covering the dead foetus with calcium.
Dr Kemer Ramirez from Tunjuelito Hospital told El Tiempo: “This happens because the foetus moved from the womb to another place
“In this case, the baby developed in the abdomen, and because the body generated defence mechanisms it was calcified, staying their encapsulated.”
The woman will now undergo surgery to remove the mass.
[Images via YouTube/ ITN]
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