The secret of a belly that swelled for 30 years revealed during surgery: what did doctors find inside?

In India, a rare medical case involving a man whose belly had swollen abnormally for over 30 years has once again caught public attention. Doctors initially suspected a large tumor, but what was found during the surgery turned out to be far more unexpected.

A man named Sanju Bhagat had seen his abdomen grow larger over many years, while doctors struggled to determine the cause.

In June 1999, his condition sharply deteriorated. As the abdomen put pressure on his diaphragm, making breathing difficult, he was rushed to Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.

At first, specialists assumed there was a large tumor. However, during surgery, Dr. Ajay Mehta encountered an extremely rare congenital condition known as "fetus in fetu."

In this condition, one twin develops inside the body of the other during pregnancy and fails to fully develop. A structure consisting of tissues belonging to his twin—which had used his blood supply and whose development had stopped before birth—was removed from Bhagat's abdominal cavity.

According to reports, the structure removed during the operation weighed approximately 4 kilograms, nearly 1 kilogram of which reportedly consisted of hair.