A woman in her 40s suffered from a skull rapture after she underwent a COVID-19 nasal swab test in the US, as doctors reported in a medical journal. The woman may have suffered from a life-threatening infection as the test conducted on her may have not been done properly, the medical experts claimed. The test caused cerebrospinal fluid to leak from her nose that could have risked her life. She was also suffering from an undiagnosed rare condition.
Jarrett Walsh, senior author of the paper that appeared in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, told AFP, said that the woman's case must be taken as a lesson and the health care professionals should take proper care while testing patients. They have also warned healthcare workers across the world about this.
It has been instructed that patients who suffer from sinus or have undergone any brain-related surgery should go for oral testing for COVID-19.
"It underscores the necessity of adequate training of those performing the test and the need for vigilance after the test has been performed," ENT specialist Dennis Kraus of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York claims.
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The woman had taken the test days before her elective hernia surgery said, Walsh. After taking the test, she noticed a transparent fluid coming out of one side of her nose.
"She had been swabbed previously for another procedure, same side, no problems at all. She feels like maybe the second swab was not using the best technique and that the entry was a little bit high,"
Dennis Kraus of Lenox Hill Hospital
The woman then developed a headache after the test followed by vomiting, neck stiffness and sensitivity to light.
The doctors said that the woman has been treated for intracranial hypertension, earlier. This is a brain condition where the pressure from the cerebrospinal fluid that protects and nourishes the brain becomes high in quantity. Fluid had to be drained out to treat her condition.
This surgery had resulted in another brain condition called encephalocele, a sac-like projection of the brain that protrudes into the nose and makes it susceptible to rupture.
Walsh said he believes the symptoms she developed were a result of irritation to the lining of the brain.
If this condition hadn't been treated, the woman could have developed a potentially fatal brain infection due to the bacteria that travelled up to her nose.
Medical professionals should follow the path of the floor of the nose, which lies above the roof of the mouth, rather than pointing the swab up as the testing protocol and must be with great attention.
Walsh said," though this was likely a very rare occurrence, it was a reminder of the need for high-quality training". In the coming times, millions of more tests will be conducted before the pandemic is over, thus, this medical condition should be acknowledged.