Cape Town – In an extremely rare medical case, doctors in Mexico were reportedly left in shock after a baby girl was born with a 6cm long tail that was covered in hair and skin.
Reports said that the baby was born healthy, via caesarian delivery at a rural hospital, Nuevo Leon, earlier this month, to parents who were both in their twenties.
Doctors described the condition, named a ‘true tail’, as a rare phenomenon, which had only been recorded less than 200 times, reports said.
According to Times Now, the tail, sticking out at the end of the baby’s tailbone with its base slightly to the left, was quickly spotted by the doctors.
“The structure was soft, covered in skin, and fine hair, it could be passively moved with no pain, but showed no spontaneous movement. The baby cried when the structure was pinched with a needle,” the report quoted doctors led by Dr Josue Rueda, as saying.
The report said that the tail was removed in a minor operation performed when the baby was two months old. She was discharged the same day and suffered no complications.
A baby born with vestigial tail. It is a birth defect in which the tail bone fails to regress during the development process of the embryo. Rare but real. pic.twitter.com/LcEG8A3qkx
— Medical Facts (@MedicalFactsHub) November 26, 2022
Mirror reported that the appendage measured at 5.7cm in length, with a diameter between 3mm and 5mm in all its length, it was also cylindrical and pointed towards the end.
“They then performed a Lumbosacral X-ray – an imaging test that helps the doctor view the anatomy of the lower back – but found no evidence of anomalies or bone structures inside the tail.
The girl born with a TAIL: Extremely rare 6cm-long defect is ‘covered in hair and skin’ https://t.co/Dh5FLhk9K2
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) November 25, 2022
“This means that the tail was not a functionless tail in the sense of an appendix, which has over time lost any usage in the body, but a “true tail” – a benign structure composed of connective tissue, muscle and nerves,” the report said.
Doctors believed the case was the first ever recorded in Mexico.
A Daily Mail report said that human tails were split into two categories. ‘Psudotails’ were growths that resembled a tail but were caused by spine problems or tumours.
Meanwhile, ‘true tails’ contained muscle, blood vessels and nerves but no bones — resembling those in animals, the report said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
