Rare Suffering One patient thought she had a cold - but it was brain water!

But no nasal secretions, but brain water

A 52-year-old female patient recently thought she was suffering from chronic runny nose. Nebraska Kendra Jackson complained of coughing, sneezing, headache and runny nose. The nose was almost continuous. Again and again the suffering plague went to the doctor. The doctors repeatedly diagnosed an allergy, until recently doctors of the "Nebraska Medicine" discovered the real reason: Over a hole in her skull her brain fluid ran out of the nose.

In a previous car accident, Jackson hit his face against the dashboard and suffered an undiscovered head injury. For years, Jackson and her doctors interpreted the constant runny nose as an allergy. "When it started, I just thought it was an allergy or the onset of a recent cold," Jackson tells CNN. After numerous unsuccessful doctor visits, Jackson turned to the hospital "Nebraska Medicine". There a CT scan revealed a small hole in her paranasal sinus, through which brain water leaked and ran into the nose.

In rare cases, a runny nose may also indicate tears in the ethmoid bone. This thin bone separates the paranasal sinus from the head organs. (Image: Monet / fotolia.com)

Every day she lost half a liter

"It was a lot of fluid," says Dr. Christie Barnes, rhinologist at Nebraska Medicine and senior surgeon in the case. According to Jackson's statements, about half a liter of fluid flowed out of her nose every day. The doctors sent a sample of the fluid to the lab for evaluation. It was called cerebrospinal fluid, a clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, and is responsible, among other things, for the removal of waste products and for the distribution of nutrients. In addition, the liquid absorbs hard shocks.

A tiny leak

Jackson's doctors believe that their car accident could have caused a small rift that grew larger over time. The fluid emerged from a tiny hole in the sieve plate (lamina cribrosa). This gossamer bone separates the paranasal sinus from the organs in the head. According to Barnes, this part of the skull is "thinner than a potato chip" and the most common place for this type of leak.

Rare injury

Leaks from which cerebrospinal fluid leaks are very rare and are referred to as "CSF leak". The CSF Leak Association reports that this injury occurs in about five out of every 100,000 people worldwide. Often they appear as a result of trauma or surgery. Depending on the amount of fluid loss, these leaks can be life-threatening. Barnes reports an increased risk of infections such as meningitis.

An operation saved Jackson

To treat the condition of Jackson, the doctors performed an operation in which she closed the hole in her skull with tissue from her nose and abdomen. "I used tissue from the inside of her nose to plug the leak," says Barnes. In addition, the expert use some belly fat as a means of closure.

Jackson is already back home

Almost a month after the operation, Jackson is back home and reports that the mysterious "cold" has disappeared. "I do not have dripping noses anymore, but I still have a headache." She wants others to know about her story so that such incidents can be resolved more quickly. In particular, people with constantly running nose, whose discharge tastes salty and constantly runs in the throat, she advises the doctor to point out a CSF leak. (Vb)