Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Peru's rare 'Mermaid' baby to have risky surgery
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-03 09:34

A Peruvian baby dubbed the "Little Mermaid" because she was born with a rare condition in which her legs are fused, will have surgery this month to try to separate them, doctors said.


Nine-month-old Milagros Cerron rests at the hospital in Lima, February 1, 2005. The Peruvian baby dubbed the 'Little Mermaid' because she was born with a rare condition in which her legs are fused, will have surgery this month to try to separate them. [Reuters]

Nine-month-old Milagros Cerron -- her name means miracles in Spanish -- is one of only a handful of the estimated 1-in-60,000 to 100,000 people born with sirenomelia, or mermaid syndrome, to have lived more than a few hours, experts say.

For Luis Rubio, the doctor leading the Peruvian team that will cut her legs apart in Lima on Feb. 24, the past year has been a crash course in tackling a condition he had read about in textbooks but never expected to have to treat.

Doctors believe there may only be one other surviving "mermaid" -- 16-year-old American Tiffany Yorks, whose legs were separated when she was a few months old.


Nine-month-old Milagros Cerron is carried by a doctor at the hospital in Lima, on February 1, 2005. The Peruvian baby dubbed the 'Little Mermaid' because she was born with a rare condition in which her legs are fused, will have surgery this month to try to separate them, doctors said. [Reuters]
Experts say sirenomelia is about as rare as conjoined twins but is nearly always fatal because most sufferers lack kidneys or have other complications.

"It is very, very rare," said Prof. Pierpaolo Mastroiacovo, director of the Rome-based International Center of Birth Defects. "The presence of renal agenesis (absence or imperfect development) makes survival very rare and improbable."

From the waist up, Milagros smiles and babbles like any healthy infant. Below the waist, her stomach merges seamlessly into her legs, which are joined all the way to her heels.

With her tiny feet splayed in a 'V', the impression of a mermaid's forked tail is complete.

The bones of both legs are visible and move separately, "as if she wanted to get free of this sack," Rubio said.

He took on Milagros' case when she was two days old and is treating her in a City Hall-funded mobile "solidarity hospital" run out of old buses in a poor northern district of Lima.

'TOTAL DESPAIR'

Milagros' father, Ricardo Cerron, 24, appealed for aid when she was born on April 27, 2004, in the Andean town of Huancayo, around 200 miles east of Lima.

"I thought it was something horrifying" he said, recalling his reaction on seeing his daughter. "I was in total despair."

Her legs have separate cartilage, bones and blood supplies, and she has one good kidney. Her heart and lungs are fine.

Milagros, who weighs 17 lbs (7.5 kg) and is 24 inches (60 cm) long, has a rudimentary anus, urethra and genitalia all located together.

Doctors will insert three silicone bags filled with saline solution between her legs on Feb. 9 and gradually add liquid to stretch the skin to cover exposed wounds once they are cut apart, centimeter by centimeter.

"I have faith it will all go well," said Milagros' mother, Sara Arauco, 19.

But Mutaz Habal, the doctor who began treating Tiffany Yorks when she was one hour old and helped pioneer the separation technique, said it was hugely risky.

"My only desire is to have another survivor," he told Reuters. He said he did not know of any besides Tiffany.

Tiffany, who lives in New Port Richey, Florida, walked for six years after her separation surgery but is currently wheelchair-bound after an accident. "I have the highest hopes that (Milagros) is going to go on for a long time," she said.

"We want to dream that she could one day run or ride a bike," Rubio said. "But if we could just give her the ability to be independent, that's enough."



Casts promote 'Seoul Raiders' in Beijing
Li Bingbing
'Beyond' puts on farewell concerts
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

New stock hopes spark strong rebound

 

   
 

Chen invites ARATS chief to visit Taiwan

 

   
 

US urges EU to keep China arms embargo

 

   
 

Russia, China tighten security links

 

   
 

All 30 law-breaking projects suspended

 

   
 

Spring Festival spawns business boom

 

   
  Peru's rare 'Mermaid' baby to have risky surgery
   
  'Baby lips' Blair earns admirer's kiss
   
  DNA test for tsunami survivor 'Baby 81'
   
  A feast for the eyes this holiday
   
  Policy-makers recognize value of public sentiment
   
  Will Lang Ping coach America to play China?
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Feature  
  Chen Ning Yang, 82, to marry a 28-year-old woman  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 99久久婷婷国产综合精品| 久久精品老司机| 真希友田视频中文字幕在线看| 国产大学生粉嫩无套流白浆| 九九在线中文字幕无码| 污污的软件下载| 公添了我的下面出差牌友 | 扒开女人内裤边吃奶边摸| 亚洲视频精品在线观看| 综合91在线精品| 国产精品自产拍高潮在线观看 | 午夜a级成人免费毛片| 被黑化男配做到哭h| 在异世界迷宫开后迷宫无修改版动漫 | 免费超爽大片黄| 老子影院午夜精品无码| 国产剧情jvid在线观看| 97久久精品无码一区二区天美 | 久久99久久99精品免视看动漫| 日韩大片高清播放器| 亚洲综合色丁香婷婷六月图片| 精品在线视频一区| 四虎在线最新永久免费| 蜜桃成熟之蜜桃仙子| 国产女人18毛片水真多1| 欧美另类第一页| 国产男女猛烈无遮挡免费视频 | 亚洲一区二区三区高清| 欧美性狂丰满性猛交| 亚洲无成人网77777| 欧美激情第1页| 亚洲欧美一区二区三区在饯 | 91精品国产免费网站| 在线观看成年人| 99福利在线观看| 夜夜揉揉日日人人视频| 99精品久久99久久久久| 在线亚洲人成电影网站色www | 2020因为爱你带字幕免费观看全集| 国产黄a三级三级看三级| 中文国产成人久久精品小说|