An 82-year-old Colombian went to a hospital complaining of stomach pain was in for the surprise of her life after doctors performed an X-ray on the elderly woman. Doctors found a calcified fetus in the uterus of the woman, which is a condition known as, lithopaedian.
According to a report in the Telegraph, doctors at Bogota’s Tunjuelito Hospital originally thought the woman was suffering from gastroenteritis, which is common in patients her age but when an ultrasound came back negative for the disease, doctors then ordered an abdominal X-ray to check for any damage but found the 40-year old fetus instead.
One would think that a woman would be able to tell she is carrying a stone. However, the phenomenon which occurs only once in every 11,000 pregnancies, happens when the fetus becomes so large that it cannot be absorbed back into the body, it mummifies, with a layer of calcium protecting the mother’s body from the dead tissue of the baby allowing the woman has no idea a calcified fetus is inside her.
There have been less than 300 cases reported ever with the most recent case in 2009 when a 92-year-old Chinese woman was found to be carrying a 60-year-old stone baby.
After the discovery was made by doctors in Bogota, the woman was transferred to another hospital where she will undergo surgery to remove the calcified fetus.
