DOT Desk: A baby girl was born with a 16-centimeter visible human tail in Noakhali on May 30. The case is the first of its kind in Bangladesh, doctors said, reports The Dhaka Tribune.
Pediatric surgeon DrNazrul Islam Akash, of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), has successfully removed the 16-centimeter long tail like projection on the 14-days old baby girl, through surgery at the Al-Karim General Hospital in Dhaka. The baby girl is the second child of her parents. Her father is an expatriate of Saudi Arabia, and mother a housewife from Noakhali district. Dr NazrulAkash said: “This case is not as critical as it is rare. The tail was without nerve, bone, and was not connected to the spinal cord.” “Human tails are of two kinds: pseudo tail and true tail. It was a true tail, like appendages (extension of skin like a nail). It is not harmful to the body,” DrNazrul added.
He further said: “I have removed it successfully by surgery after an x-ray, and required tests.”
No other case like this has been found so far in Bangladesh, but 35-40 such cases have so far been found across the world.
The longest known tail is 13 inches long and belongs to a man in India, according to babymed.com. There are no known risk factors for a vestigial tail. Male children are twice as likely to be born with a vestigial tail than female children.