Baby Girl Born With Tail In Brazil Leaves Doctors Stunned

Doctors were left stunned after a Brazilian baby girl was born with a tail that was 6 cm long.

The unidentified newborn's appendage was covered in skin and protruded from her back, but surgeons successfully removed it. The Journal of Pediatric Surgery Case Reports published images of the rare case. The baby was born with spina bifida, which is a birth defect that happens when an infant's spinal cord fails to develop properly. The baby's condition caused a gap to form in her spine, and medical experts believed that the abnormality was likely the cause of the tail, reported nzherald.co.nz.

The child, who was born by cesarean delivery, had no maternal history of drug exposure or illness. The hole was closed and the appendage was removed by doctors from Grendaac, a children's hospital in Sao Paulo. The tail emerged from the lumbosacral region, which is the area that connects the spine to the pelvis, explained doctors.

The appendage was diagnosed by experts as a "human pseudo-tail." It is a growth that looks like a tail but is caused by spine problems or even tumors. The deformity is not the same as a tail, which contains nerves, muscles and blood vessels with no bones.

The case was studied by researchers from the Centre for Fetal and Placental Research in Ohio alongside Brazilian doctors. They said that human caudal appendages are "rare lesions that impose an enormous stigma on their carriers and parents."

They shared that they are associated with "spinal dysraphisms (spina bifida), and its presence, therefore, mandates careful screening for underlying spinal cord defects." The researchers noted that surgery is important to avoid stigma and complications like pain, further growth or irritation.

This is not the first case involving a child with a tail. A baby girl in Mexico was born with a 5 cm-long "true tail" last year. A "true tail," which is a benign appendage consisting of only fat and tissue, is very rare. Only 40 cases have been reported.

Doctors snipped it and reconstructed the region via Limberg plasty. It is a procedure that transplants tissue from the patient's buttocks. The operation was successful, and the child was discharged from the hospital.