Doctors in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr were left stunned after an MRI scan revealed a rare and potentially first-of-its-kind medical case in India, a 12-week-old foetus developing inside a woman’s liver rather than in the uterus.
The condition, known as intrahepatic ectopic pregnancy, was uncovered when the 30-year-old woman underwent an MRI of the abdomen following persistent abdominal pain and vomiting, as per a report by News18. Earlier ultrasound tests had failed to determine the cause of her symptoms.
High-Resolution MRI Reveals Foetus With Cardiac Activity
The MRI was conducted at a private imaging centre in Meerut under the supervision of senior radiologist Dr KK Gupta. ‘When I saw the scan, I could not believe my eyes. The foetus was embedded in the right lobe of the liver, and there were clear cardiac pulsations,’ said Dr Gupta. ‘I have never encountered such a case in my career, and this could be the first such instance recorded in India.’
The scan showed a well-formed gestational sac within the liver’s parenchymal tissue. The foetus measured around 12 weeks in gestational age, with liver blood vessels supplying nutrients to the sac. Notably, the uterus was completely empty, ruling out a normal intrauterine pregnancy.
Dr Gupta added that repeated MRI sequences from multiple planes were conducted to confirm the findings and rule out imaging errors. ‘Initially, I thought it could be an artifact, but repeated tests confirmed it. At that moment, we knew we were dealing with an extremely rare and high-risk pregnancy,’ he said.
Medical experts believe this extraordinary case could provide new insights into ectopic pregnancies and prenatal imaging, given its uniqueness and medical complexity.