An Alabama man’s sneeze ruptured a blood clot in his skull, causing a dangerous brain hemorrhage.
In September 2016, college student Sam Messina, 26, was lying in bed. when he sneezed out and had a stroke.
The pressure of the sneeze sent blood gushing out of my nose, which caused a stroke and passed out minutes later.
Messina had to undergo three surgeries over the course of a week to remove the clot, but thankfully made a full recovery.
The doctor found a fatal aneurysm and he I was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a condition that causes tangles of blood vessels that connect arteries and veins in the brain.
Arteries and veins may rupture, bleeding into the head.
“I started sneezing when I was lying in bed during my thriving college days after I started my junior year,” Messina said.
“And when I sneezed, I basically had an aneurysm. I had a blood clot – a blood clot in my brain that didn’t burst until I was in my 20s.
He said: “My brain almost exploded and blood clots came out of my nostrils.
“It also caused a stroke and I would have passed out and almost died.”
“But since I sneezed, this was the most peaceful way to burst.
“When I sneezed, I managed to scramble for my phone before passing out.
“I called my mom and my girlfriend called and ended up taking me from the apartment to the hospital.”
Doctors soon realized that Mr. Messina was bleeding in the brain and was immediately taken to another hospital for further treatment and surgery.
Mr Messina said:
he dropped out of school to have surgery Hospitalized for a week. Ms. Messina stuck her 27 staples in and then removed her staples after recovering in her bed at home for a month.
He said: “It was a really weird time. All I could think about was how to get my life back on track.”
The pressure caused by sneezing can lead to rupture of brain aneurysms.
Most people are born with AVM, but it can appear soon after birth or later in life. In some cases, it is even passed on to family members. Doctors aren’t sure what’s causing it.
AVM is believed to affect approximately 1.4 people per 100,000.
Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain, and veins carry oxygen-depleted blood back to the lungs and heart.
AVMs in the brain interfere with this important process. Although AVMs can occur anywhere in the body, they usually occur in the brain and spinal cord, but overall her AVMs in the brain are rare.
Some people with cerebral AVMs may suffer from headaches and seizures. It is often not discovered until after bleeding, when the blood vessel ruptures and bleeds.