Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

These are the teeth and hair strands found inside a rare tumour cut from a young boy’s brain.

The five-year-old from China’s central province of Hunan suffered from chronic migraines and was misdiagnosed with the common cold before medics discovered the mass of body tissue known as a teratoma.

The child had symptoms including headaches and vomiting, leading his mum, Ms Liu, to seek the help of experts at Guangdong 999 Brain Hospital in South China.

Lu Ming, the hospital’s deputy director and head of neurosurgery, ordered MRI scans which revealed an intracranial space-occupying lesion suspected of being a tumour.

Judging by the density of the foreign body, Doctor Lu suspected the boy had a teratoma growing inside his brain.

Teratomas can include various types of body tissue including hair, teeth, bone and muscle.

They rarely form outside of the ovary, testicles or tailbone, and it would have continued to grow in size had it not been surgically removed.

According to the hospital, the boy underwent a craniotomy on 15th January to cut out the mass, which contained a ball of hair and five teeth.

The child’s symptoms immediately subsided, and he was kept under observation before being discharged a few weeks later.

Teratomas form during the developmental phase of a foetus and are mainly benign.

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