Baby in India is born with a third ARM growing from its back in rare phenomenon
An infant has been born in India with three hands in an extremely rare medical phenomenon.
The youngster, who was delivered at a local hospital in Rajasthan, north India, had two limbs in the normal place plus a third sprouting from its back.
Doctors diagnosed them with polymelia, a medical condition reported only a few times in medical literature.
The youngster, pictured shortly after birth, appeared healthy but had a third arm protruding from its back. The infant was born in Rajasthan, north India
Footage circulated online showed the baby lying on its side and crying out as someone touches the extra limb.
The ‘third arm’ is shorter than the others with the hand at the end only having about three digit-like projections.
The youngster appears to have only just been born, which is indicated by the fact that the umbilical cord appears to still be attached.
The name, sex and method of delivery of the child has not been revealed.
Doctors also did not say how the child might be treated, but in previous cases the extra limbs have been amputated.
They are the first child born to mother Prosuta Suman.
In development, at about weeks four or five, two pairs of buds appear on the surface of an embryo that develop into limbs.
Sometimes, however, these can be disrupted and form other buds that then develop into limbs.
This can happen later in the development process, doctors say, leading to the extra limbs being less developed than the others.
Babies can also be born with extra limbs in cases of conjoined twins where one embryo has almost completely withered away.
Polymelia, or being born with extra limbs, is an extremely rare condition with only a few cases reported in medical literature.
Previous instances include a baby girl from Delhi who, in 2016, was born with an extra leg sprouting from her back.
Varsha Sena was born with two legs but also had a third limb that was growing sideways out of her spine.
Doctors at the Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital were able to successfully amputate the unwanted third leg at the end of last month.
In another case, a baby boy in Iraq was born with eight limbs after his conjoined twin did not form properly.
Instead of growing a separate body, the other undeveloped baby’s limbs absorbed into his as a result of polymelia.
The baby, then seven months, was flown to India for a complex operation to remove the extra limbs — which was hailed as a world first.
Surgeons at Jaypee Hospital, Delhi, performed a three-stage operation to remove his protruding extra arms and legs.
