Britt Jones
A man in China discovered that symptoms he thought were down to a bad hangover were actually something much more sinister.
We all like to go for a few drinks every now and then, and sometimes, you can definitely wake up with a bit of different appearance depending on what you got up to the night before.
However, this Chinese man saw his face swell all the way up after a good drinking session and, despite initially putting it down to a typical morning-after hangover, he started to think something was really wrong.
The 33-year-old sought help for his face, and after three months of waiting, he was finally told the cause, with his unusual case detailed by medics in the Journal of Medical Case Reports.
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Luckily, he was able to find out what was behind the swelling before it was too late.
Initially, it had been believed that he had too much protein in his urine and he was sent home.
However, after further checks were completed, the man’s true condition was realized.
It was actually a rupture of a sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (RSOVA), which medics stated was caused by him exercising after drinking.
RSOVA occurs when part of the aortic wall in the heart swells and then ruptures, which can lead to heart failure and cardiac arrest.
It can also cause bizarre symptoms like facial swelling, which are not as typically associated with heart problems.
Professionals shared that his rupture was likely to have been caused by 'strenuous' exercising after drinking alcohol which then made the 'previously healthy' patien develop swelling around his face and eyelids.
The initial checks on his heart at the hospital failed to find anything wrong and after looking at the high levels of protein in his urine, they decided to give him medications to help his condition.
But it only got worse.
Soon, the swelling spread to other parts of his body and he began to experience chest tightness and a swollen abdomen.
After numerous visits to the hospital, he was then seen by doctors at the emergency department of Qilu Hospital in Qingdao who uncovered the cause and wrote in their paper about it.
They said the person who first examined him missed the 'key indicators of a ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm' and that ‘this misdiagnosis delayed appropriate intervention.’
The authors explained: “As the disease progressed, the patient’s symptoms worsened significantly, which posed a serious risk.
“Upon admission to our hospital, he exhibited clear signs of acute right heart failure.”
With an enlarged organ, it was determined that he had RSOVA and that an aneurysm of 24mm by 27mm was impacting one of the four chambers of the heart, leading him to be rushed for emergency surgery.
Thankfully, the surgery went well and medical professionals shared the man recovered 18 months after the procedure.
RSOVA only affects about 0.09 percent of the population.
Symptoms of RSOVA can include chest pain, shortness of breath after exercise, heart palpitations, passing out and continuous mechanical heart murmur.