Partial duplication of head--a rare congenital anomaly.

ABSTRACT

Duplication of notochord results in rare congenital anomalies like double headed monsters, with or without trunk/limb duplication, depending upon the extent of notochordal abnormality. Here we describe the morphological abnormalities in a case of partial duplication of cranial structures with fusion of the two. Autopsy findings suggest that the bifurcation of the neural tube took place around 4th to 6th week of gestation. There are only few reports in English literature describing the autopsy findings of such an anomaly, which is termed as Diprosopus triophthalmus in the modern literature.