- Rare
- Fetus in fetu is a malformed parasitic monozygotic diamniotic twin that is found inside the body of a living child or adult, the fetiform mass usually being in the abdomen of the host.
- usually presentation age < 2yrs.
- can occur in either sex.
- most common symptom - abdominal lump.
- usually retroperitoneal in location.
Most of the fetus in fetu are pedunculated masses within a capsule containing fluid and with an umbilical cord composed of only 2 vessels.
The fetus is usually anencephalic.
The vertebral column and the limbs are present in most cases.
D/D -
teratoma
meconium pseudocyst
- differentiated by its fetiform morphology, and metameric segmentation of the spinal axis.
- Fetus in fetu is applied to any structure in which the fetal form is in a very high development of organogenesis and to the presence of a vertebral axis.
On the contrary, teratoma is an accumulation of pluripotential cells in which there is neither organogenesis nor vertebral segmentation
- Fetus in fetu is a malformed parasitic monozygotic diamniotic twin that is found inside the body of a living child or adult, the fetiform mass usually being in the abdomen of the host.
- usually presentation age < 2yrs.
- can occur in either sex.
- most common symptom - abdominal lump.
- usually retroperitoneal in location.
Most of the fetus in fetu are pedunculated masses within a capsule containing fluid and with an umbilical cord composed of only 2 vessels.
The fetus is usually anencephalic.
The vertebral column and the limbs are present in most cases.
D/D -
teratoma
meconium pseudocyst
- differentiated by its fetiform morphology, and metameric segmentation of the spinal axis.
- Fetus in fetu is applied to any structure in which the fetal form is in a very high development of organogenesis and to the presence of a vertebral axis.
On the contrary, teratoma is an accumulation of pluripotential cells in which there is neither organogenesis nor vertebral segmentation