A 37-year-old woman has suffered a rare ectopic pregnancy in her liver.
Azucena Shuan Lázaro arrived at hospital with her “face twisted” by pain.
Officials said such a case has only been documented 34 times in over 50 years, calling it “one of the rarest cases in medicine.”
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She was seen at the Arzobispo Loayza National Hospital in Lima, Peru.
The Peruvian Health Ministry said she arrived from the coastal city of Chimbote with a “challenge that pushed the medical team to the limit.”
A ministry spokesperson said: “Azucena, her face twisted by inexplicable pain, came looking for answers.
“What no one imagined was that inside her was developing one of the rarest cases in medicine: an ectopic pregnancy lodged in the liver.
“The condition is so unusual that only 34 similar cases have been documented in over half a century of research.”
The six-week-old embryo, which was implanted in the patient’s liver tissue, was successfully removed “in a surprising display of medical skill.”
The spokesperson added: “Surgeons carefully removed the small being, which, although no longer developing, represented both fragility and tenacity.”
Dr. Jorge Jericó Araujo said the patient arrived at the hospital’s emergency gynaecology unit “with a history of two previous surgeries performed at another facility for ectopic pregnancies”.
“After imaging tests, it was discovered that the embryo was still in her body.
“The embryo was not viable and had no heartbeat, so an urgent action plan was implemented.”
He added: “The liver is an organ that, in good condition and with proper care, has the ability to restore its structure after a surgical procedure like the one we performed.”
Azucena returned home five days after the operation, as reported by Need To Know.
The mother-of-two said: “I owe all my thanks to God and the medical team at Loayza Hospital.
“I can now return home to my husband and two children feeling very relieved and grateful.”
The Ministry of Health said her case will “remain engraved in the memory of Peruvian medicine.”
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