A lithopedion ( also spelled lithopaedion or lithopædion; from "

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

" and "small child, infant"), or stone baby, is a rare phenomenon which occurs most commonly when a

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

dies during an

abdominal pregnancy An abdominal pregnancy is a rare type of ectopic pregnancy where the embryo or fetus is growing and developing outside the uterus, in the abdomen, and not in a fallopian tube (usual location), an ovary, or the broad ligament. Because tubal, ov ...

, is too large to be reabsorbed by the body, and calcifies on the outside as part of a foreign body reaction, shielding the mother's body from the dead tissue of the fetus and preventing septic infection. Lithopedia may occur from 14 weeks gestation to full term. It is not unusual for a stone baby to remain undiagnosed for decades and to be found well after natural

menopause Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time when Menstruation, menstrual periods permanently stop, marking the end of the Human reproduction, reproductive stage for the female human. It typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 5 ...

; diagnosis often happens when the patient is examined for other conditions that require being subjected to an

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

study. A review of 128 cases by T.S.P. Tien found that the mean age at diagnosis of women with lithopedia was 55 years, with the oldest being 100 years old. The lithopedion was carried for an average of 22 years, and in several cases, the women became pregnant a second time and gave birth to children without incident. Nine of the reviewed cases had carried lithopedia for over 50 years before diagnosis. According to one report, there are only 300 known cases of lithopedia recorded over 400 years of medical literature. While the chance of abdominal pregnancy is one in 11,000 pregnancies, only between 1.5 and 1.8 percent of these abdominal pregnancies may develop into lithopedia.

Research history

Lithopedion was first described in a treatise by the Spanish Muslim physician Abū al-Qāsim (

Abulcasis Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf ibn al-'Abbās al-Zahrāwī al-Ansari (;‎ c. 936–1013), popularly known as al-Zahrawi (), Latinised as Albucasis or Abulcasis (from Arabic ''Abū al-Qāsim''), was an Arab physician, surgeon and chemist from al-And ...

) in the 10th century. By the mid-18th century, a number of cases had been documented in humans,

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

s in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In a speech before the French

Académie Royale des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the forefront of scientific d ...

in 1748, surgeon Sauveur François Morand used lithopedia both as evidence of the common nature of

fetal development Prenatal development () involves the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal deve ...

viviparous In animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the mother, with the maternal circulation providing for the metabolic needs of the embryo's development, until the mother gives birth to a fully or partially developed juve ...

and

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

animals, and as an argument in favor of

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

. In 1880,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

physician Friedrich Küchenmeister reviewed 47 cases of lithopedia from the medical literature and distinguished three subgroups: ''Lithokelyphos'' ("Stone Sheath"), where calcification occurs on the placental membrane and not the fetus; ''Lithotecnon'' ("Stone Child") or "true" lithopedion, where the fetus itself is calcified after entering the

abdominal cavity The abdominal cavity is a large body cavity in humans and many other animals that contain Organ (anatomy), organs. It is a part of the abdominopelvic cavity. It is located below the thoracic cavity, and above the pelvic cavity. Its dome-shaped roo ...

, following the rupture of the placental and ovarian membranes; and ''Lithokelyphopedion'' ("Stone Sheath ndChild"), where both fetus and sac are calcified. Lithopedia can originate both as

tubal Tubal (, ''Tuḇāl''), in Genesis 10 (the "Table of Nations"), was the name of a son of Japheth, son of Noah. Modern scholarship has identified him with Tabal. Traditionally, he is considered to be the father of the Caucasian Iberians (ancesto ...

and ovarian pregnancies, although tubal pregnancy cases are more common.

Reported cases

Before 1900

:* After death of the patient.

After 1900

Notes

External links