Doctors have just made public the atypical symptom of a sixteen-year-old teenager: as soon as he blew through his nose, a nauseating odor spread throughout the room.
- According to the family, the young patient had been shot in the nose when he was eight or nine years old.
It is an unusual story which, if it were not reported by doctors in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, would be unbelievable. A sixteen-year-old gave off a foul odor all around him as soon as he exhaled. This was due to a bullet from a pistol, stuck in his nose since the age of eight or nine.
No problems were detected when nasal endoscopy
Around fifteen years old, the young man had consulted a doctor because he suffered from a lack of smell and congestion in the nose, that is to say an excessive influx of blood into the blood vessels. At the time, he had no other symptoms, did not drink, did not smoke. In other words, he was healthy. He then had a nasal endoscopy. The examination consists of an exploration of the ducts of the nose using a tube equipped with optics which make it possible to observe the interior and to take samples. The results showed no worrying signs. The practitioner had therefore advised him to take nasal rinses, an intranasal spray and antihistamines for four to six weeks.
A year later, a new symptom appeared: a foul odor came out of his nose when he exhaled. But he didn’t have bad breath. To understand this phenomenon, the doctor this time prescribed a CT scan. This is a technique that uses X-rays and a computer to obtain cross-sectional images of certain parts of the human body, the nose in this teenager’s case.
A 9 millimeter spherical structure in the nasal cavity
CT scan results showed a small 9 millimeter spherical structure in his nasal cavity around which there were calcium deposits that could be caused by necrosis, scarring or chronic inflammation. In any case, these calcium deposits were the sign that the small spherical structure of 9 millimeters was indeed a foreign body. The teenager therefore had it removed: the object was a small metallic bullet from a pistol.
According to the family, the young patient had been shot in the nose when he was eight or nine years old. Having seen no sequelae at the time, the parents did not consult and it remained in his nose for all these years, causing, from the age of sixteen, a foul odor as soon as he expired.
Organic tissue accumulated around the ball
“The foreign body causes the natural drainage pathways in the nose to be blocked, so there is a buildup of mucus, inhaled debris and bacteria,” explained Dylan Z. Erwin, co-author and medical student at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, USA, at the Live Science news site. Indeed, organic tissues had piled up around the ball, which blocked its exit. It was therefore impossible to dislodge it with a simple sneeze.
But the end of this unusual story ends well. There was no infection and after the operation the teenager never again suffered from a foul smell when he breathed.
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