Parasitic Twin
Doctors prepare three-year-old Isbac Pacunda to have a parasitic foetus removed from his abdomen at Las Mercedes hospital in Chiclayo January 31, 2012. Doctors successfully removed the parasitic twin from Pacunda on Monday and said the youngster will be able to live a normal life. The painstaking surgery resulted in the extraction of a 25 centimetre (10-inch) fetus complete with a humerus, a femur, a backbone but no heart, lungs or brain. Picture taken January 31, 2012. Reuters/Stringer

Recently, a teenager was admitted to a hospital in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh following a severe stomach pain. The surgeon later discovered that the boy had his embryonic twin in the abdomen, feeding on his blood supply.

Embryonic twin, also known as “foetus in fetu” is a rare medical condition in which one twin “absorbs” the other through the umbilical cord during the early stages of pregnancy. The “absorbed” twin continues to live inside in the other twin, obtains nutrition from the blood supply, thus also called the parasitic twin.

Narendra Kumar, 18, is one the individuals who was found to possess a 2.5-kg parasitic twin living inside him. As of now, only 200 people around the world have been found to possess an embryonic twin.

The Independent reports that Kumar had been suffering from bouts of vomiting and severe weight loss since the past few years. However, the cause remained a mystery until the doctors finally operated on him on Jan 4, 2016.

The doctors found 2.5kgs worth of teeth, skin and hair of the parasitic twin that were leeching on Kumar's blood supply. The doctors say that technically, the parasitic twin was still alive and growing because of the metabolic activity in the body.

“The boy's stomach grew, but his plight went undiscovered for years because neither his parents were aware of his medical condition, nor the doctors could diagnose the condition at an early stage,” said Dr Rajeev Singh, in a statement.

During the surgery, the team of doctors removed embryonic twin's teeth, poorly developed head, hair and the bony structure of the chest and spine. In addition, the doctors removed yellow-coloured amniotic like fluid in the sac. The hair measured almost 6.5 feet, reports the Irish Mirror.

In a majority of cases, the “evil” twin is recovered from the abdomen of the twin. However, in some cases, it might also be recovered from the cheek or the brain of the sufferer.

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