She again showed up at the hospital this month. She was operated on November 17. And the operation was not only successful but historic.
Mandera Governor Ali Roba recalled her story. “Hawa had previously visited most hospitals in Ethiopia but did not get diagnosed in any of them. In September, she tried her luck at the Mandera County Referral Hospital.”
Her condition was intensively investigated and a CT scan showed that Hawa had lithopedion, a rare condition.
Lithopedion happens when a fertilised egg grows in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus.
The fallopian tube can only allow the foetus to grow to a certain limit beyond which it will either rupture and be discharged to the abdominal cavity.
In most cases, the foetus dies due to the harsh extra-uterine environment. Few develop into maturity.
According to Roba, only 300 such cases have been reported globally and until September none in East and Central Africa.
The diagnosis is prompt in countries with good health facilities.
In the Hawa case, the foetus developed in the abdominal cavity to approximately past 30 weeks at which point it was lost.
“She carried the dead foetus for 13 years and was only diagnosed when she came to MCRH in September. But she did not show up for the scheduled surgery,” Roba said.
Hawa returned to the facility on Monday and was operated on Tuesday.
“At MCRH, she was operated on and delivered the stone baby successfully. On close scrutiny, it was a male infant, complete with the placenta and a cord weighing 1.75kg,” the governor said.
Hawa is recuperating at the surgical unit.
