More Ways the Body Can Go Wrong....

[Broomstick]

WARNING! Link contains potentially disturbing picture. Baby has foot removed from brain

The parents of Sam Esquibel know him only as a miracle baby.

The Colorado Springs infant survived surgery to remove what was believed to be a tumor when he was just 3 days old.

"The doctors said to us, 'This one is for the books,' " mom Tiffnie Esquibel said.

Inside the microscopic tumor was what looked like the formations of two feet, a hand and thigh.

"To find a perfectly formed structure (like this) is extremely unique, unusual, borderline unheard of," said Dr. Paul Grabb, the veteran pediatric neurosurgeon who performed the operation on Sam at Colorado Springs' Memorial Hospital for Children.

As for what this could mean to science books, Grabb said he did not pursue it because it was not vital to saving Sam, although he did say it gave insight to stem-cell research.

"How does the body form complete extremities? Who is to say we can't grow a heart, leg or foot?" Grabb said. "This could show a window of what's possible."

At 41 weeks into Esquibel's pregnancy, an ultrasound showed fluid in Sam's brain, and an emergency cesarean section was scheduled. The infant appeared healthy, but was given an MRI exam to be sure.

"If they hadn't done the (testing), the hospital said they would have sent Sam home with me," Esquibel said. "He just seemed as healthy as can be."

The MRI ultimately revealed a tumor, and at 3 days old, Sam underwent a two-hour surgery to remove it.

"I was absolutely devastated," Esquibel said. "We didn't know if he'd make it through the surgery or not, and it was a 50-50 percent chance the tumor could be cancerous."

Two and half months later, Sam has mostly recovered. Now that the sutures have healed, the infant is scheduled for 25 sessions of physical therapy to improve use of the right side of his head and neck.

"You'd never know if he didn't have a scar there," his mom said

And you may ask yourself "Self, how the hell could that happen?" Two possibilities pop to mind first: teratoma or a vanishing twin. It could also be a fetus in fetu in which case it is debatable whether or not it's a teratoma or absorbed twin.

[Broomstick]

183 views and counting... and no comments? Is it safe to presume there is an interest in such oddities of nature, but folks don't have much to say about them?

Perhaps a mention of the recent face transplant at the Cleveland clinic would prompt more discussion...?

Of course, if you just want to look and not comment that's OK, too, it just seems an unusually high number of views with no additional posts.

[Knife]

From purely a clinical perspective; the Teratoma would be a nice tidy explanation. Kid almost had a sibling but just came away with some suverniors. Whats more interesting, to me any how, is the durability of the human brain in that it had a rather large mass in it that wasn't supposed to be there and yet the kid ought to be fine. Phineas Gage this kid won't be, or maybe he will, who can say.

[Samuel]

183 views and counting... and no comments? Is it safe to presume there is an interest in such oddities of nature, but folks don't have much to say about them?

Perhaps a mention of the recent face transplant at the Cleveland clinic would prompt more discussion...?

Of course, if you just want to look and not comment that's OK, too, it just seems an unusually high number of views with no additional posts.

What is there to say? I have seen a much more disturbing image in Cracked, and all this seems to be is another case of weird stuff occuring.

[Akkleptos]

Whats more interesting, to me any how, is the durability of the human brain in that it had a rather large mass in it that wasn't supposed to be there and yet the kid ought to be fine. Phineas Gage this kid won't be, or maybe he will, who can say.

Well, one concept pops into my mind: brain plasticity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity, a. k. a. neuroplasticity, or cortical plasticity. Contrary to former beliefs, it turns ourt that the brain cortex can re-wire itself in order to cope with events such as brain-damage or, well, the particulars of this case.

Besides, the brain at birth is still quite underdeveloped (a trade-off for humans becoming bipedal, having to be born with small brains and a still-soft skull made of somewhat loose pieces in order to pass through such a narrow birth canal) so a very important part of its development happens after birth, thus giving neuroplasticity some considerable leeway towards making up for the growth previously impeded by the "foreign objects" in the cranial cavity.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Yeah, my idiot mother was changing me when I was extremely, extremely young on top of a dresser with no rails and I rolled off; the top of my skull was "turned to mush" in her own words of the incident, but the doctors essentially said that there was nothing to do except let me heal up and take stock of how I developed. Altogether, I think we can agree the results of having one's skull turned to mush could have been substantially worse in terms of a functional life than the one that I've had. This was at the stage of a couple weeks, so IIRC the bones of the skull hadn't fully hardened yet anyway, and thus formed normally. As for my neurological condition, well, I have an A-level GPA and I'm coherent enough to write this post. The problems that do exist I don't think can or should be reliably correlated with severe brain trauma in infancy, considering they exist extensively in people who didn't have it.

[Shroom Man 777]

My mother, who works as a pathologist, once found a fetus in fetu - and she was really delighted to have found something so rare.

She's also found teratomas in ovaries, specifically teeth and hair. Basically, a teratoma is when something that's not supposed to be there turns out to BE there. Like ovaries developing sweat glands and skin tissues, and other fun stuff.

So, yeah, lotsa weird stuff can happen to the human body. It's awesome!

[Broomstick]

Yeah, my idiot mother was changing me when I was extremely, extremely young on top of a dresser with no rails and I rolled off; the top of my skull was "turned to mush" in her own words of the incident, but the doctors essentially said that there was nothing to do except let me heal up and take stock of how I developed.

So... when someone says "were you dropped on your head as an infant?" you can actually answer "yes"?

Indeed, the human brain, particularly in infants, is remarkably resilient. There's that surgery used in extreme cases of epilepsy that essentially removes half the brain to cure the seizures, but it is only used on children. Do that to an adult you have a severely incapacitated adult. Do the surgery on a four year old you'll most likely wind up with a seemingly normal child with, maybe, a slight weakness on one side or a limp, but fully able to walk, talk, and function as a normal human being.

I suspect, given that these anomalous structures developed along with the child, that considerable "re-routing" of brain tissues occurred even prior to birth. It wouldn't surprise me if the kid grew up with normal functioning, especially after some rehab.

[Knife]

Well, one concept pops into my mind: brain plasticity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity, a. k. a. neuroplasticity, or cortical plasticity. Contrary to former beliefs, it turns ourt that the brain cortex can re-wire itself in order to cope with events such as brain-damage or, well, the particulars of this case.

Besides, the brain at birth is still quite underdeveloped (a trade-off for humans becoming bipedal, having to be born with small brains and a still-soft skull made of somewhat loose pieces in order to pass through such a narrow birth canal) so a very important part of its development happens after birth, thus giving neuroplasticity some considerable leeway towards making up for the growth previously impeded by the "foreign objects" in the cranial cavity.

Indeed, plenty of cases of massive trauma where the brain 'rewires' itself for normal function. As long as it's not certain parts, you've got some good redundancies.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

So... when someone says "were you dropped on your head as an infant?" you can actually answer "yes"?

Yep! I, at least, find it amusing.

Indeed, the human brain, particularly in infants, is remarkably resilient. There's that surgery used in extreme cases of epilepsy that essentially removes half the brain to cure the seizures, but it is only used on children. Do that to an adult you have a severely incapacitated adult. Do the surgery on a four year old you'll most likely wind up with a seemingly normal child with, maybe, a slight weakness on one side or a limp, but fully able to walk, talk, and function as a normal human being.

I suspect, given that these anomalous structures developed along with the child, that considerable "re-routing" of brain tissues occurred even prior to birth. It wouldn't surprise me if the kid grew up with normal functioning, especially after some rehab.

Oh, it seems perfectly reasonable to me. A lot of the important parts of the brain haven't developed yet for controlling higher level thought (the more basic functions are in, which is why the limp and weakness might exist), and it's clear that if the region they're supposed to develop from isn't there, the brain can fairly naturally compensate for it.

[Invictus ChiKen]

Posted here as it seems more of a sciencey thing.

Link

Tiny foot found in brain tumor removed from 3-day-old Colorado boy


Associated Press

Article Launched: 12/18/2008 08:12:04 AM PST


A pediatric neurosurgeon who operated on a Colorado Springs infant says a tumor he removed from the brain contained a tiny foot and other partially formed body parts.

Dr. Paul Grabb said he operated on Sam Esquibel at Memorial Hospital for Children after an MRI showed a microscopic tumor on the newborn's brain. Sam was 3 days old and otherwise healthy.

Grabb said that while removing the growth, he discovered it contained a nearly perfect foot and the formation of another foot, a hand and a thigh.

"It looked like the breach delivery of a baby, coming out of the brain," Grabb said. "To find a perfectly formed structure (like this) is extremely unique, unusual, borderline unheard of."

Grabb isn't sure what caused the growth but says it may have been a type of congenital brain tumor. However, such tumors usually are less complex than a foot or hand, he said.

The growth may also have been a case of "fetus in fetu" — in which a fetal twin begins to form within another — but such cases very rarely occur in the brain, Grabb said.

Sam's parents, Tiffnie and Manuel Esquibel, said their son is at home now but faces monthly blood tests to check for signs of cancer or regrowth, along with physical therapy to improve the use of his neck. But they say he has mostly recovered from the Oct. 3 surgery.

"You'd never know if he didn't have a scar there," Tiffnie Esquibel said.

I've heard that is not unusual for tumors to have fully formed body parts and organs in them, any truth to this or just Discovery channel hype?

[fgalkin]

Already posted.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[LadyTevar]

I've heard that is not unusual for tumors to have fully formed body parts and organs in them, any truth to this or just Discovery channel hype?

Teratomas are cysts that are often found on the ovaries or in the chest cavity that contain body tissues/parts that are not supposed to grow there. Examples include hair, teeth, dermal skin with sweat glands, etc. In theory this is an example of stemcells gone wild.

[Akkleptos]

I've heard that is not unusual for tumors to have fully formed body parts and organs in them, any truth to this or just Discovery channel hype?

Teratomas are cysts that are often found on the ovaries or in the chest cavity that contain body tissues/parts that are not supposed to grow there. Examples include hair, teeth, dermal skin with sweat glands, etc. In theory this is an example of stemcells gone wild.

Hence the prefix Tera- (Greek, from terat-, teras: marvel, portent, monster)

Medfical accounts make reference to women sometimes feeling deeply disturbed upon being shown the "cyst" after having it surgically extracted, as the presence of discernible teeth, hair, skin or nails are awfully suggestive of an "aborted, horribly-deformed child". My! Who wouldn't, even after the doctors' explanations as to what it was?

"No way that *gasp* THING was inside me!"

[Akkleptos]

I've heard that is not unusual for tumors to have fully formed body parts and organs in them, any truth to this or just Discovery channel hype?

Teratomas are cysts that are often found on the ovaries or in the chest cavity that contain body tissues/parts that are not supposed to grow there. Examples include hair, teeth, dermal skin with sweat glands, etc. In theory this is an example of stemcells gone wild.

Hence the prefix Tera- (Greek, from terat-, teras: marvel, portent, monster)

Medical accounts make reference to women sometimes feeling deeply disturbed upon being shown the "cyst" after having it surgically extracted, as the presence of discernible teeth, hair, skin or nails are awfully suggestive of an "aborted, horribly-deformed child". My! Who wouldn't, even after the doctors' explanations as to what it was?

"No way that *gasp* THING was inside me!"

EDIT: typos

[Edi]

Don't double post just to correct a few typos, Akkleptos. Serves no useful purpose.

As far as why this thread initially garnered so few replies, I figure many who viewed it didn't feel like they had much to say. I know I don't have anything insightful enough to contribute in that sense and in that kind of situations I simply don't post. Fortunately many others here did have something useful to add.