Lessons from an historical museum of anatomical pathology: thoraco-abdominopagus fetus

Conjoined twins are united by part or segments of the body and receive their name and known references depending on the macroscopic location of the union/fusion plus the word pagus (from the Greek word for “fixed”) [1, 2]. The majority of the reported cases correspond to parapagus (28%), presenting a united lower abdomen and pelvis, followed by thoracopagus (19%) – fusion of the thorax and abdominal wall until the umbilicus [3]. Having been recognized since antiquity [4], these cases are currently rare [1.5/100,000-1/500,000 live births, still with a female predominance (3♀ : 1♂)] due to medical diagnosis accuracy [2, 5].
The authors present a conjoined twins specimen from the 19th century (Fig. 1), preserved at the Teratology wing in our Museum of Anatomical Pathology, which dates from 1822 and is currently a UNESCO World Heritage site. Tutorial visits to the museum are included in the Pathology educational curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine. Like the publications of Paluchowski et al. [6] and Gulczyñski et al. [7], this report aims to emphasize the pedagogic mission of historical collections kept in university museums when preparing medical students or young residents for future clinico-pathological practice, namely in what concerns unusual nosologic entities and the understanding of congenital and/or molecular pathology/diseases, whose knowledge and preventive measures may avoid leading to final dramatic health situations as well as to patient-family suffering.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.