The smaller and less completely developed member of a pair of unequal conjoined twins, often consisting of an amorphous mass of tissue attached to or within the larger twin.
Example sentencesExamples
Fully developed twins born conjoined at the head are extremely rare, accounting for one of every 2.5 million births, but parasitic twins, where one twin stops developing in the womb, are even rarer.
Parasitic twins occur when the twin embryo does not fully separate in the womb.
Medics said the 4 cm growth was a parasitic twin that died in the womb early in their mother's pregnancy.
The team must cut some of the tissue surrounding her spinal cord to successfully separate the parasitic twin.
Definition of parasitic twin in US English:
parasitic twin
noun
The smaller and less completely developed member of a pair of unequal conjoined twins, often consisting of an amorphous mass of tissue attached to or within the larger twin.
Example sentencesExamples
The team must cut some of the tissue surrounding her spinal cord to successfully separate the parasitic twin.
Fully developed twins born conjoined at the head are extremely rare, accounting for one of every 2.5 million births, but parasitic twins, where one twin stops developing in the womb, are even rarer.
Parasitic twins occur when the twin embryo does not fully separate in the womb.
Medics said the 4 cm growth was a parasitic twin that died in the womb early in their mother's pregnancy.