Parasitic twin in Peru toddler's stomach

PERU - Three-year-old Isbac Pacunda seems like any ordinary toddler.

Boy's foetus twin shock Surgeons in Peru discover what they call a parasitic twin foetus in the stomach of a three-year-old boy.

On the inside he's got a rare condition - what doctors call a parasitic twin.

Surgeons found the 25cm long foetus in Isbac's stomach after he complained of pains.

Doctor Marco Antonio Flores said: 'Through giving him an ultrasound scan we realised that he had bones inside - a humerus, a femur, a backbone. Then we did another ultrasound that confirmed the diagnosis.'

Doctors say a parasitic foetus has no brain, heart or lungs but lives off the blood supply of its host.

The condition happens in about one in every half million births.

Its removal is a complex process, but Isbac at least is likely to feel the benefit after three years as the unwitting host of a twin he never knew existed.

Watch the video here.