A 17-year-old Yunnan Province girl is expected to undergo surgery to remove a third "leg" on her back at Shanghai's Zhongshan Hospital on Saturday.

Shi Jinling was born with the deformation.

Medical experts at the hospital did a group diagnosis yesterday and discussed the possible risks of surgery.

Shi is from a needy farmer's family in Honghe, Yunnan. She never attended school due to fears of being ridiculed by other students.

The "leg" looks like a partial hip and a Y-shaped underdeveloped limb. The base is an ellipsoid with a 30-centimeter leg.

Doctors said there may have been another fetus in the womb with Shi and it could have developed abnormally and became this extra part of her body.

The girl also has slower brain functions and a deformed left leg.

"The surgery to remove the extra limb will be complicated, as it has blood vessels, muscles and nerves," said Wang Yuqi, Zhongshan's president. "The most risky part is to keep the nervous system intact, or she may suffer incontinence."

The hospital has organized a surgical team with experts from seven departments.

Shi was found by Shanghai volunteers, who went to Yunnan to provide either free medical care or business guidance. They helped Shi contact Zhongshan Hospital and arranged her trip to the city.

"I am so happy to come to Shanghai and to undergo surgery that I have wanted for so many years," Shi said, smiling. "I am so eager to get rid of it."

Doctors said a deformity such as Shi's is due to a viral infection, improper medication and contact with chemicals during the fourth to seventh week of pregnancy.

Her parents are both farmers. Shi has a healthy brother who is in middle school.

Hospital authorities said it will give the family a discount and hospital employees are donating money to help cover the girl's medical expenses.

(Shanghai Daily November 25, 2005)