A 73-year-old woman shocked doctors and the world when a CT scan revealed she had been carrying a calcified fetus, known as a lithopedion or "stone baby," inside her abdomen for around 40 years.
This rare medical phenomenon happens when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy and is too large to be reabsorbed by the body. Instead, the body protects itself by calcifying the fetus, essentially turning it to "stone" to prevent infection.
The woman had not realized she was carrying the calcified fetus all these years, only discovering it after seeking medical help for pelvic pain.
Such cases are extremely rare, with only around 300 documented instances worldwide. The discovery provided valuable insights for medical professionals and fascinated the public, showing the body's remarkable ability to adapt. Most lithopedion cases remain asymptomatic for decades, often only found incidentally during imaging for other issues.