A girl born with a 6-cm-long ‘tail’ in Brazil, due to a rare genetic disorder called spina bifida which occurs when the spinal cord doesn’t develop properly, was operated on successfully.
Medical experts said due to a gap in her spine, the baby was born with an extra appendage, The New Zealand Herald reported.
During the surgery, the hole was closed, while the ‘tail’ was removed. The doctors from a children’s hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, said the tail is generated from the lumbosacral region, the area that connects the spine to the pelvis.
In medical terms, that structure is referred to as a “human pseudo-tail”, a growth that resembles a tail but is caused by spine problems or tumours.
Researchers from the Centre for Fetal and Placental Research in Ohio studied the case alongside Brazilian doctors. In their report, the researchers said the child’s mother had no history of drug use or illness.
“Surgical management was achieved through a midline lozenge incision, identifying a dermal appendage extending until the level of the medullary cone. The resection of the pseudo-tail and the closure of the spinal dysraphism was completed using a muscle flap,” the researchers wrote in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery Case Reports.
The authors of the research noted that surgical procedure to remove the ‘pseudo tail’ is important to “avoid complications such as pain, torsion, further growth, irritation, or breakdown, and to elude social stigma.”