奇闻：82岁老太怀孕40年

哥伦比亚某医院的医生们在本周遇到了一件奇怪的事情——一位82岁的老太太已经怀孕了40年。她在周一时因剧烈的腹泻而到该医院就诊。

据报道，在全面的临床检查之后，医生确定在她的腹部并没有结石或肿瘤，而在子宫外发现了一个胎儿，但已经死亡了近40年。

这位老太太最初以为自己得了肠胃炎，但在感觉到腹痛并做了超声波之后，才发现在腹部有一个未发育的胎儿。

医生解释称：“由于胚胎未在子宫里发育，移动到老妇的腹腔，导致胚胎无法正常生长，因而钙化形成石胎。”

Doctors in Colombia discovered the 82-year-old woman was carrying the unborn baby after she went to hospital in Bogota suffering from abdominal pain.

It was only when medics x-rayed her they discovered the calcified foetus or lithopaedian inside her body.

Dr Kemer Ramirez of Bogota’s Tunjuelito Hospital explained the doctor looking after the woman noticed something “abnormal in her abdomen” and suspected it could be gallstones.

An initial ultrasound revealed nothing before a radiographer discovered a tumour in her abdominal cavity.

Dr Ramirez said: “This happens because the foetus does not develop in the uterus because it has moved to another place.

“In this case, the abdominal part of the woman is not a viable (place) and this is what happened, a calcified foetus because the body is generating defence mechanisms and it is calcified until it stays there encapsulated.”

Lithopaedian, also known as stone baby, is a rare syndrome that can occur when the foetus implants outside the uterus.

If the baby becomes too large to be absorbed back into the body, it undergoes a process of mummification, with barriers of calcium protecting the mother from the decaying foetus.

The stone baby can then remain undiagnosed for decades. There are fewer than 300 cases reported in medical literature.

The woman will now will undergo surgery to have the foetus - mostly comprised of dead tissue - removed.