In a rare medical occurrence, an infant was born in Rajasthan, north India with three hands, including a third arm growing from its back.
The baby, diagnosed with polymelia, had two normal limbs and a shorter third arm with three digit-like projections, a report in The Daily Mail stated.
Despite the condition, the infant appeared healthy and was captured on video crying out as someone touched the extra limb shortly after its birth.
The baby appears to have just been born, as seen by the umbilical cord which is still attached, and the name, gender, and delivery method have not been disclosed.
While doctors have not revealed how the child could be treated, past cases of extra limbs have been amputated.
This child is the first of mother Prosuta Suman.
Embryonic buds usually develop into limbs, but they can be disrupted and form other buds that later turn into limbs, as seen in this case.
According to doctors, extra limbs can also develop later in the embryo’s development, resulting in the additional limbs being underdeveloped compared to the others.
In cases of conjoined twins, where one embryo has completely withered away, babies can also be born with extra limbs. the report stated.
Polymelia, or a condition where babies are born with extra limbs, is exceedingly rare and has only been documented a few times in medical literature.
Past examples include a baby girl in Delhi, India who was born in 2016 with an extra leg growing from her back. Doctors reportedly amputated the third limb last month.
Additionally, in Iraq, a baby boy was born with eight limbs due to his malformed conjoined twins’ undeveloped limbs being absorbed into his own due to polymelia. At seven months old, he was flown to India for a three-stage operation to remove his protruding extra arms and legs.
The surgery was hailed as a world first.
