A two-month-old female child presented with a
hairy mass protruding from abdomen above the umbilicus since birth.
The child was delivered of non-consanuineous marriage and was well
till two months of age. On examination, this mass was found to be an
incomplete heteropagus twin attached to the anterior abdominal wall.
The heteropagus twin with a rudimentary opening for eyes, nose and
mouth (Fig. 1 )
the skull and spine were palpable and limbs were absent. The
dimen-sions of the twin were 7
cm approxi-mately. No pulsations were felt in the omphalopagus twin.
There are two primary groups of conjoined twins.
In one group, the two fetuses are of almost equal size,
symmetrically disposed and united by corressponding parts. In
another group, the two fetuses are of different sizes,
asymmetrically disposed and united by apparently unlike parts.
Heteropagus twins can present with difficult labor depending upon
the size.
Fig. 1. Omphalopagus
showing rudimentary opening for mouth, eyes and nostrils
Omprakash Shukla,
Rajesh Chandwani,
Department of Pediatrics,
Medical College Baroda,
N-15, Doctors Quarters, Indira Avenue,
Yateshwar Mahadev Compound,
