Baby born in Mexico with almost 6cm tail: ‘soft and covered in fur’

A baby with a six-centimeter tail covered with fur was born in a maternity hospital in Mexico. The case, described by doctors in the scientific publication Journal of Pediatric Surgery, highlighted the shock experienced by the delivery team when they saw the rare occurrence of the newborn.

The boy’s mother gave birth by cesarean section at Nuevo Leon hospital in Guadalupe. Professionals examining the “rare” anomaly case say both she and the girl’s father are in their 20s and have no health problems.

Again, according to the doctor’s report, the 5.7 cm tail protruding from the coccyx area of ​​the girl was “soft”, “covered with fine hairs” and “pointed”. The team accompanying the painting is Dr. Josue Rueda says this is the first of its kind reported in Mexico.

Shortly after the team noticed the abnormality in the newborn, doctors began doing some experiments on its origin and noticed that the newborn cried when a needle was inserted into its tail, suggesting tenderness in the area.

Despite this, no deformity or abnormal bone structure was found in the X-ray film taken by the doctors. After analyzing 40 similar cases already documented by science, the tail, consisting mostly of fat and tissue, was considered “benign”.

Doctors at the hospital continued to monitor the situation and reassessed two months after birth, confirming that her measurements and development were within the expected range for her age. Also, as the baby grew, the tail got shorter, reaching only 0.8 cm.

With evolution, and after it was determined that removal would not harm the patient’s skin, the experts cut off the tail and performed plastic reconstruction surgery in the area using tissue taken from the child himself. scientific website The Science Times.

The boy’s mother, whose identity has not been released, had a quiet pregnancy and gave birth in the expected week. The girl is the second daughter of her parents, who already have a boy, born without any changes.

Overall, 195 cases of humans born with “tails” have been recorded in the scientific literature, with the largest being 20 cm, the researchers reported. One in 17 infants born with the anomaly also had a problem with mental or bone development, and there was a higher incidence of delay in boys.

Reasons for “real queue” vary

A “true tail” case registered in Brazil in January last year was the scientific study published in November of the same year. On this occasion, a child with characteristics similar to that of a Mexican baby was born.

On this occasion, pediatric surgeon Humberto Forte, one of the professionals who signed the article in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery Case Reports, talked about this type of anomaly, explaining that these changes are normally neurological disorders in the development of the spinal cord.

“A tail can reveal the presence of these defects even before the patient shows typical symptoms. It is important for the pediatrician or pediatric surgeon to look for the presence of occult spinal dysraphism in patients with suspected skin lesions, as these may be the only visible abnormalities and diagnostic treatment can prevent the progression of serious neurological changes,” he said. explained.