title: An unusual case of retained abdominal pregnancy for 36 years in a postmenopausal woman.
abstract: Abdominal pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy which occurs due to ruptured uterine or tubal pregnancy into the abdomen. Fetal loss is a common complication of these pregnancies and patient presents with acute abdominal pain which is a surgical emergency. Another rare but established complication of this ectopic pregnancy is fetal demise with the dead fetus being retained in the abdomen. It gets macerated and mummified over a period of time and is mostly detected incidentally during imaging. Radiological imaging has hallmark appearances of such a macerated fetus showing multiple fetal parts embedded in a calcified sac termed as lithopedion or stone baby. We report a unique case of retained abdominal pregnancy for 36 years in a 60-year-old postmenopausal female presented with abdominal pain and difficulty in micturition. Computed tomography showed multiple fetal bones in the abdomen surrounded by a membrane which was surprisingly not calcified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Lata Mangeshkar Hospital, Digdoh Hills, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Kajal Ramendranath
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Lata Mangeshkar Hospital, Digdoh Hills, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Chetana Ramesh
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Ratnaparkhi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Lata Mangeshkar Hospital, Digdoh Hills, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Bapuji Shrawan
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Gedam
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Lata Mangeshkar Hospital, Digdoh Hills, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Kushal Ashok
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Tayade
keywords: Abdominal pregnancy; computed tomography; macerated fetus; magnetic resonance imaging