Surgeons closed up the hole and removed the appendage.
Doctors from Grendaac, a children’s hospital in Sao Paulo, said the tail generated up from the lumbosacral region, the area that connects the spine to the pelvis.
The tail generated up from the lumbosacral region, the area that connects the spine to the pelvis. Photo / Journal of Pediatric Surgery Case Reports
Medics diagnosed the appendage as a “human pseudo-tail”, a growth that resembles a tail but are caused by spine problems or tumours.
The deformity is different to a tail, which contains muscle, blood vessels and nerves but no bones.
Researchers from the Centre for Fetal and Placental Research in Ohio studied the case alongside Brazilian doctors.
“Human caudal appendages are rare lesions that impose an enormous stigma on their carriers and parents,” they wrote.
“Fetal caudal appendages are associated with spinal dysraphisms (spina bifida), and its presence therefore mandates careful screening for underlying spinal cord defects.
“Identifying of the numerous possible associated anomalies is critical to plan the correct treatment and offer good quality counseling [sic].”
The experts added that surgery is important to avoid stigma and complications such as pain, torsion, further growth, irritation, or breakdown.
This is not the first time a child has been born with a tail.
Last year, a baby girl in Mexico was born with an extremely rare 5 cm-long “true tail.”
A “true tail,” a benign appendage consisting of only tissue and fat, which is much rarer, with only 40 cases reported.
Surgeons decided to snip it and reconstruct the region via Limberg plasty — a procedure that transplants tissue from the patient’s own buttocks.
