May 30, 2006
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SHANGHAI, China — Doctors in Shanghai on Tuesday were considering surgery options for a 2-month-old boy born with an unusually well-formed third arm.
Neither of the boy’s two left arms is fully functional and tests have so far been unable to determine which was more developed, said Dr. Chen Bochang, head of the orthopedics department at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center.
“His case is quite peculiar. We have no record of any child with such a complete third arm,” Chen said in a telephone interview.
The boy, identified only as “Jie-jie,” also was born with just one kidney and may have problems that could lead to curvature of the spine, local media reports said. Jie-jie cried when either of his left arms was touched, but smiled and responded normally to other stimuli, the reports said.
Chen said doctors hoped to work out a plan for surgery, but the boy’s small size made it impossible to perform certain tests that would help them prepare.
Media reports said other children have been reported born with additional arms and legs, but in those cases it was clear what limb was more developed.
Chen’s hospital is one of China’s most experienced in dealing with unusual birth defects, including separating conjoined twins.
Interesting. Disturbing, yes, but interesting. Wonder if mutations like this are moving toward the norm rather than the strange.
Yeah, this three-armed baby is disturbing!
if he was a case of conjoined twins, i would expect him to have more than one kidney – at least two, and possibly more – or some other indication that he was more than one person apart from a single kidney and two left arms…
but yeah, he does look sweet… he’s a baby. 8)
This boy must have had a twin which he devoured!
It looks sort of sweet though…I mean the arms…:) (and the boys face is gorgeous!)