e-mail
They’re calling him “Jie-jie,” and he’s making medical history.
Nobody’s sure quite what to do — all three of his arms seem to be functional. At least, as functional as a two-month-old’s arms can be.
According to the Associated Press:
“His case is quite peculiar. We have no record of any child with such a complete third arm,” [Dr. Chen Bochang, head of the orthopedics department at Shanghai Children's Medical Center] said in a telephone interview.
The boy, identified only as “Jie-jie,” also was born with just one kidney and may have problems that could lead to curvature of the spine, local media reports said. Jie-jie cried when either of his left arms was touched, but smiled and responded normally to other stimuli, the reports said.
Chen said doctors hoped to work out a plan for surgery, but the boy’s small size made it impossible to perform certain tests that would help them prepare.
Cue lousy jokes about pitching and playing piano….
Usually, when these things happen (as they do from time to time), the “extra” limb is easy to determine. Surgeons remove the littler arm, leg, finger, whatever that doesn’t work right. This time, they’re not sure which one that is.
In frogs, they link this condition (polymelia, being born with extra limbs) to pesticide exposure. (Or maybe parasites or the hole in the ozone.) Which does make one wonder. Time for some more environmental regulations, Beijing? Or are they already on the way? Shanghai does have a history with pesticide pollution problems….
(Can anybody read this site, anyway? It’s bound to have something relevant on it somewhere.)
