An 81-year-old Brazilian woman died after she underwent surgery to remove a dead foetus she carried in her abdomen for 56 years. The woman, identified as Daniel Vera, unknowingly had an ectopic pregnancy when she was young.
Reportedly, she complained to doctors several times about pain and a bulge in her belly. However, the doctors were unable to spot the calcified baby inside her. Instead, they treated her for a water infection, before recommending her to another hospital to het 3D scans.
Even after having seven children, Daniel Vera’s condition went unnoticed until she received the 3D scans. The 3D scans revealed that she had lithopedion, a rare condition that happens when a baby dies during pregnancy and isn’t absorbed by the body.
After discovering lithopedion, she went into surgery, following which she was kept in intensive care unit (ICU). However, she died the next day after suffering an infection.
Revealing about her mother’s condition, Daniel Vera’s daughter said to The Metro, “She was old and we are indigenous, she didn’t like going to the doctor, she was afraid of the equipment to take exams. She said that it looked like a baby was moving inside her belly and sometimes she felt sick, but we never suspected that it was that.”
It is worth mentioning here that Ectopic pregnancy is a type of pregnancy where the fertilised egg is conceived outside the womb, where it is not able to survive. Due to lack of development, the foetus becomes calcified and in such a situation, there is neither severe pain nor bleeding in the body. In Ectopic pregnancy, there are also no visible symptoms until an X-ray is done.
Ms Kalinga