A 6-month-old baby from South Carolina underwent surgery to remove her second mouth, which was complete with tongue, teeth, and lips.
The mother was 28 weeks pregnant when the mass was first discovered, and it was thought to be a tumor or cyst.
But as soon as she was born, doctors found that the mass was actually a second mouth, and it had lips and tongue.
The little girl is one of the only 35 people diagnosed with Diprosopus since 1900.
Diprosopus, also known as craniofacial duplication, is an extremely rare congenital malformation whereby all or parts of the face are duplicated.
The doctors wrote in the journal BMJ Case Reports that the girl’s second mouth had no connection to the main mouth. She could drink, eat, and breathe normally.
Medics also wrote that the second mouth would sometimes release a clear liquid and a raw surface would develop around it.
The youngster was admitted for an operation to remove the second mouth. The procedure involved drilling down on her mandible (lower jaw) to get rid of the extra bone supporting teeth for the extra organ.
“After surgery, she developed some mild fullness of the right face at the surgical incision for which a scan was performed, revealing a fluid collection,” doctors wrote in the paper.
“The fullness resolved over several months and she did not require further treatment,” the doctors added.
“At the six-month follow-up, the incisions were well-healed and the patient was feeding without difficulty.”
In 2004, a boy was born with two separate nostrils, a large cleft, and an abnormally shaped head because of the condition.
He defied the odds and proved doctors wrong as they did not expect him to live long.
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Replaced!