Case Report
Craniopagus parasiticus: A rare case

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocn.2010.01.053Get rights and content

Abstract

Conjoined twins or Siamese twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in the uterus. Craniopagus is a condition in which the heads of the two twins are joined. Craniopagus parasiticus is a rare condition in which one of the twins is rudimentary in form and parasitic on the other. Few cases of craniopagus parasiticus are reported in literature; here, we present one such rare occurrence.

Introduction

Conjoined twins are a rare type of twin with numerous variations; craniopagus is an infrequently occurring condition in which the heads of the twins are joined. Craniopagus parasiticus is a seldom-seen type of craniopagus in which one of the twins is degenerated.1 We present one such occurrence and discuss the relevant literature.

Section snippets

Case report

A 20-year-old male with two heads presented to the outpatient department of our facility. Enquiry revealed that the child was born with two heads in a village, and was not investigated until he presented to our facility. As the patient had grown up, the additional head had grown in size. On examination, the patient did not demonstrate any neurological deficit. It was also observed that the twin head had a fully developed nose, mouth and ears, although its eyes were closed (Fig. 1). The head of

Discussion

Craniopagus is a rare anomaly and occurs in only 4 to 6 of every 10 million live births.2 It may result from the development of two fetuses from one zygote, with incomplete separation of the cranial ends in the second week of gestation. Others believe that it results from abnormal fusion of two separate embryos at the end of fourth week of gestation, at the anterior open neuropore.3 Conjoined twins are identical in both appearance and sex, and may be fused at the vertex, forehead or side of the

References (4)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.
View full text