AS 2023 draws to a close, many will reflect memorable moments throughout the year.
For Sun Health, this involves looking back on the most bizarre medical case reports published this year.
cureusThis year has brought a fair few medical mysteries, from knives ‘floating’ across abdomens to eyes changing colour from Covid treatments[/caption]
From a man’s tongue sprouting slimy green fur, to a knife ‘floating’ in a man’s belly and a feotus removed from a one-year-old’s brain, the last 12 months have seen a wide range of weird and wonderful medical happenings.
Here are the 10 most memorable medical case reports of 2023.
1. Rustling sounds in woman’s ear turns out to be spider
nejmDoctors discovered a spider and its exoskeleton in the ear of woman plagued by rustling and clicking sounds[/caption]
A case report published in the England Journal of Medicine (opens in a new tab)” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>New England Journal of Medicine detailed how a 64-year-old woman in Taiwan spent days hearing beating, clicking and rustling sounds in her left ear, which were so bad she struggled to sleep.
This lead her to visit an ear, nose and throat clinic, where doctors discovered a spider moving about her external auditory canal, the passageway that links the outside of the ear to the eardrum.
As if that wasn’t enough, the spider had shed a hard, white exoskeleton.
2. A scuba dive triggers deadly blood syndrome
GettyA scuba diver descending into an underwater cave developed a deadly blood syndrome called systemic capillary leak syndrome[/caption]
A scuba diver descending into an underwater cave developed a deadly blood syndrome called systemic capillary leak syndrome that caused fluid to leak out of his blood vessels, a case study published to the British Medical Journal reports.
His reaction was extremely rare and a strange complication of what’s known as decompression sickness, where nitrogen bubbles form in the blood when divers move quickly from the depths of the ocean to the surface.
Typical symptoms include joint pain, muscle cramps, numbness and nausea. It can be fatal, but most people respond to treatment.
Thankfully, the man was able to survive thanks to prompt medical attention.
3. A man’s tongue sprouts thick, green fur
nejmA man developed thick fur on his tongue after a reaction to antibiotics and years of smoking[/caption]
After years of smoking, a 64-year-old man from Ohio developed a shockingly green, hairy tongue.
He suffered the embarrassing side effect for two whole weeks before getting his furry tongue checked out.
Doctors at Wright-Patterson Medical Center found the thick carpet of dead skin and bacteria developed after he was put on a course of antibiotics.
Hairy tongue, known medically as lingua villosa, is caused by a build-up of dead skin cells on the part of the tongue covered in taste buds.
4. A foetus was removed from a one-year-old’s brain
neurology.orgDoctors surgically removed a feotus from the brain of a one-year-old[/caption]
In an extremely rare case detailed in the journal Neurology, doctors surgically removed a feotus from the brain of a one-year-old.
The foetus was the child’s identical twin – it had come from the same fertilised egg and had also shared the same placenta, but developed in a separate amniotic sac.
During pregnancy, one foetus was enveloped by the other, but its remnant’s lingered in the remaining child’s skull even after birth, causing an enlarged head and delayed motor skill development.
5. New species of bacteria identified after stray cat bite
Emerging Infectious DiseasesA man left doctors baffled after his forearms swelled following a stray cat bite[/caption]
A man, 48, was left with an excruciating infection after being bitten by a stray cat and he rushed to an emergency department in Cambridge after his hand started to swell.
After both his forearms went red and started to swell up and his fingers became agonisingly enlarged, baffled medics conducted tests and found he’d been infected with a previously unseen type of bacteria.
It belonged to a family of bacteria called globicatella, but was distinct from other strains of the group by around 20 per cent.
6. A knife floated to the other side of a man’s abdomen
cureusA knife lodged in man’s abdomen wandered to the other side of his body[/caption]
A man, 22, from Nepal got stitched up after being stabbed with a knife — but the next day, he learned that the nearly half-foot blade was still in his belly.
A day later, he went to the emergency department because he had mild, continuous pain in his lower-left belly.
Stunned doctors saw the blade had “wandered” to the other side of the man’s body, but miraculously, it did so without damaging any of his surrounding organs, the report in Cureus said.
7. A wriggling python parasite was pulled out from woman’s brain
CANBERRA HEALTH SERVICESThe last thing doctors expected to find was a live, wriggling parasite that usually lives in snakes in a woman’s brain[/caption]
A 64-year-old Australian woman reported suffering from abdominal pain and diarrhoea for three weeks, followed by a dry cough and night sweats, according to a case report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Stumped doctors did an MRI scan of her brain, which showed a ghostly glow in her right frontal lobe.
Doctors pulled an 8 cm long red worm, which was still alive and wriggling, out of her brain – the parasite typically lives in pythons.
8. Toddler’s brown eyes turned blue after taking COVID-19 drug
Frontiers in PediatricsHis eyes are normally blue but his mum noticed they started shining blue in sunlight after being given favipiravir[/caption]
A six-month-old baby was given the antiviral drug favipiravir in Bangkok, Thailand, after he was infected with coronavirus.
Just 18 hours later, his mum noticed his usually brown eyes were indigo blue.
This shocking colour change was believed to be a side effect of how the body processes the drug.
The boy’s eyes returned to their usual colour after treatment was stopped.
9. Man suffers excruciating whip-like rash after eating under-cooked mushrooms
A man had to go to A&E with an agonising rash because he ate a common mushroom
The 72-year-old, from Switzerland, was left with a “streaky”, whip-like pattern across his back after eating shiitake mushrooms.
Doctors diagnosed him with shiitake dermatitis, a reaction to the food.
The rash, which appeared streaky and red as if the man had been whipped, was caused by an overblown inflammatory reaction, doctors determined.
10. A tooth extraction causes man’s brain to bleed
Getty – ContributorA man’s trip to the dentist for a tooth extraction had a shocking outcome[/caption]
A man’s trip to the dentist for a tooth extraction had a shocking outcome, as he was later rushed to the emergency department due to bleeding in his brain triggered by the procedure.
Doctors thought the bleeding was caused by a sudden increase in blood pressure after the man’s procedure.