Baby born with two mouths undergoes successful surgery

Baby born with two mouths undergoes successful surgery

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

May 29, 2020:   In an extremely rare case, a 6-month-old baby girl born with two mouths successfully underwent surgery to have her twin mouth removed.

 

 

The baby was born with Diprosopus, an extremely rare condition that causes duplication of facial parts.

According to a report published in Science Times, such a case has only occurred 35 times since its discovery, which was over 100 years ago.

During the period of pregnancy, the mom-to-be goes through a range of tests for ensuring her as well as the baby’s well being. But, in this case, even after the tests this condition was not detected.

 

 

A report in Science Alert mentioned that during a regular check-up of the woman in her third trimester an unusual mass on the right side of the baby’s mouth was detected. However, even after the ultrasonography, the medical experts were unable to resolve the problem.

It is only after the birth of the baby that it was found that there is a second mouth that includes lips, teeth, and tongue that moves in sync with the main tongue.

What must be noted here is that the second mouth does not create any issues with the baby girl’s feeding and breathing process.

According to doctors at the South Carolina medical university, the skin around the second mouth sometimes develops a "raw surface" and a clear fluid, which they assume is saliva.

Since the second mouth had no direct connection to the main mouth which is used for eating, speaking, breathing and more, doctors decided to operate on the duplicated oral cavity.

 

 

While the operation was successful, doctors’ reports state that though the girl could eat and use her mouth without complications, she was unable to move her lower lip.

A similar incident happened in 2011 when a 15-month-old Egyptian baby Rokaya Mohamed was operated upon by doctors in the United States who successfully removed a second mouth replete with a second set of jaws.