Dental brace in woman's intestine
© BMJ Case ReportsWire from a woman's dental braces was discovered twisted in an Australian woman's intestine.
2017 has had its fair share of bizarre, headline-grabbing medical cases which tend to leave people scratching their heads. Fox News has compiled ten of these cases.

Braces are a pain - literally

An Australian woman went to the doctor complaining of stomach pains. The doctor found her heart beat was elevated and her gut wall was inflamed. The docs were stumped, though, as when lab tests and liver scans of the liver, gallbladder and bile ducts all showed up as normal.

It was only when they did a CT scan that they found an almost 3-inch long dental brace wire lodged in her intestines. "The wire penetrated through the small bowel and the small bowel mesentery and to another loop of the mid-small bowel," read the BMJ article reporting on the case.

The woman told the doctors she hadn't had braces in over ten years and that she never remembered swallowing any.

Ever hear of 'Rapunzel syndrome'?

Rapunzel Syndrome
© Lincolnshire Live / BPM MediaBeever’s case was caused by the infected hairball in her stomach, and eventually led to a burst ulcer that caused her organs to shut down.
A U.K. family suffered a tragedy when their 16-year-old teen daughter, away at college, suddenly died mysteriously. Apparently the young girl, Jasmine Beever, suffered from 'Rapunzel syndrome', a condition in which the sufferer is compelled to eat their own hair. It's a psychological condition known as trichophagia. Beever was rushed to the hospital due to an infection caused by a hairball in her stomach.

From Fox:
An autopsy later revealed that Beever had suffering from peritonitis, which occurs when the thin membrane that covers the abdominal wall is inflamed, which is typically due to a fungal or bacterial infection. Beever's case was caused by the infected hairball in her stomach, and eventually led to a burst ulcer that caused her organs to shut down.
Some people are full of sh*t - 13kgs of it

impacted colong removed
© Shanghai Tenth People's HospitalThe section of colon that was removed was 30 inches long and weighed nearly 29 lbs.
Doctors in Shanghai China had to remove 30 inches of a 22-year-old man's colon after his abdomen had swelled well past what would normally be seen in a full-term pregnant woman. What they discovered was 13 kilos (29 pounds) of feces in the colon. Seriously. Apparently the man had been constipated since birth.

The man suffered from a condition known as Hirschsprung's disease, a birth defect that results in having no nerve cells within the wall of their colon at its end. Normally, these nerve cells signal the muscles of the colon to move the stool along its length, allowing feces to be eliminated. Without these nerve cells, the feces can't be eliminated, resulting in sever constipation. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD), the condition affects about 1 in 5,000 babies in the U.S.

Man gets $870,000 after doctors remove wrong testicle

Oh boy. In June, Stephen Hanes was awarded close to a million dollars in a suit related to a 2013 botched surgery where doctors removed the wrong testicle. Hanes was seeking surgery to relieve chronic pain he had in his right testicle, something he'd suffered with for years. The doctors removed the left testicle.

The jury found the surgeon to be "recklessly indifferent". Hanes lawyer had argued the surgeon's explanation made "no anatomical or medical sense."

After the procedure left him with a "debilitating fear," Hanes has not sought further treatment.

It's all fun and games until someone get 'Seal Finger'

sea lions
© iStockDon't trust these guys.
A viral video this year featured a young girl being dragged into the water by a sea lion in Vancouver. The girl's family ended up contacting the aquarium to inquire about "seal finger," an infection caused by bacteria found in the mouths of sea mammals. The girl has received medical treatment to stave off any potential bacterial infection that could have infiltrated her system through a cut on her finger.


From Fox:
If left untreated, the infection could turn severe and even lead to a loss of fingers or limbs. It wasn't clear what treatment the girl had been receiving, or if she was ever diagnosed with it.
...

Seal finger is caused by several types of Mycoplasma bacteria that are found in the mouths of sea mammals. If left untreated, the infection could turn severe, and even lead to a loss of fingers or limbs.

"If any member of our animal care team receives a bite from a seal or sea lion, they take a letter from our vet with them to the hospital, which explains that the infection is resistant to some antibiotics," Lancaster told ABC News.
According to Andrew Trites, marine mammal expert at the University of British Columbia, getting close to these animals is quite risky. "This was a male California sea lion. They are not circus performers. They're not trained to be next to people." This is really common sense, but it seems our modern mindset, used to seeing animals only on TV and movies, has us expecting them to break into song and perform magic tricks. A little piece of advice - don't pet the wild animals. Even the cute ones.

Bringing new meaning to the phrase "Blood, Sweat and Tears"

sweating blood
© ReutersA woman (not pictured) was hospitalized for spontaneously "sweating blood" from her face and palms of her hands, a case report revealed.
A 21-year-old woman from Italy has posed a medical mystery for doctors. The woman was admitted to the hospital for "sweating blood" from her hands and face. She had no visible lesions or abrasions in the area according to a case report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The woman, unidentified, has reportedly been dealing with the issue for three years, bleeding spontaneously while asleep or while when physically active.


While it's unclear what causes the episodes, it reportedly intensifies when she is under stress. From Fox:
The women told doctors she suffered major depression and panic disorder because of the condition and became "socially isolated." She has no history of psychosis, the report said.

The doctors floated different theories on what caused the condition, including factitious disorder, when someone would deceive others by appearing sick. However, she continued to spontaneously bleed after she was prescribed paroxetine and clonazepam for her depression and anxiety order.
More from Fox News:
They ultimately concluded she had hematohidrosis, an uncommon disease that would cause "spontaneous discharge of 'blood sweat' through intact skin." Blood can also come out of areas that don't have sweat glands.

It's still unclear what causes the "blood sweat." Dr. Michelle Sholzberg, co-director of the Hemophilia Comprehensive Care program at St. Michael's Hospital, told CBC News the case is the "most unusual."

"I can say with clarity that I've never seen a case like this - ever," Sholzberg told CBC News. "And I can say that I've seen some of the worst bleeding disorders, and I've never seen them sweat blood."
Sleeping Beauty - mystery illness causes boy to sleep for 10 days

Wyatt Shaw, a Kentucky 7-year-old, fell into a deep sleep after spending the day celebrating a relative's wedding. When his mother woke him the following day, he complained of a stomach ache and said that his head hurt. He then fell back asleep before his mother took him to Norton Children's Hospital in Louisville. It would be 10 days before he opened his eyes again.

His case continues to be a mystery, but he was given a medication that is typically used to treat seizures and seems to be helping him. He is also having trouble walking and talking as doctors attempt to pinpoint what caused his slumber in the first place.

From Fox:
Wyatt was eventually given medication typically used to treat seizures, which helped to wake him, but they still can't figure out what caused him to fall into such a deep sleep. He's also having trouble walking and talking, WDRB reported.

"[The doctors] said, 'We'll probably never know, but we're just going to treat him now with rehab to get him better,'" Shaw said, adding that her son is still recovering in the hospital.
Sounds like it could be some sort of allergic reaction...

Woman accused of trying to kill niece with poisoned breast milk

woman accused of poisoning breast milk
© Allen County Sheriff's DepartmentSarai Rodriguez-Miranda is accused of plotting to kill her 11-week-old niece by lacing her bottles with pills.
Chock this one up to a psycho-teen. Sarai Rodriguez-Miranda, 19, is accused of trying to kill her 11-month-old niece by crushing up pills and putting them into a bottle of breast milk in the fridge. The teen then stupidly texted her boyfriend telling him about the crime - on a cell phone she shared with her mother. From Fox:
Rodriguez-Miranda was allegedly upset that her mother had invited her brother, his baby and his fiance to stay with them longer than she had expected. Her mother reportedly read the texts and intercepted the bottles before informing police, prompting Rodriguez-Miranda to express frustration that the baby was still living.
Lock her up, throw away the key; if not for the fact that she's clearly pathological, then for being beyond stupid. We can't have that much stupid out walking the streets.

Insurance company send denial of coverage letter to a 9-month-old with brain cancer

infant with brain cancer denied coverage
© GoFundMeThe family's insurance company allegedly sent 9-month-old Connor a letter denying a request for coverage after he was enrolled in a clinical trial to treat aggressive brain cancer.
Here's another one to either file under extreme stupidity and totally heartless.
The 9-month-old son of a retired NYPD officer allegedly received a letter from the family's insurance company recently, explaining that the clinical trial he was enrolled in to treat aggressive brain cancer was "not medically necessary," and therefore would not be covered by the provider.

The family's plight began two months ago when Connor Richardson, then 7 months old, was diagnosed with a teratoid rhabdoid tumor, The Daily Beast reported. He underwent two major surgeries at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York to remove the tumor, but follow-up exams at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis discovered the tumor had returned and the cancer spread to his spine.

While St. Jude provides free care to its patients, Richardson's father, Wayne, told The Daily Beast that they were shocked to receive a letter from HIP health insurance dated Oct. 11 and addressed to their baby. Wayne said the first thing he noticed at the top of the alleged letter were the notes "Type of Review: Prospective" and "Type of Denial: Medical Necessity."
Only in a truly pathological world would an insurance company deem treatment for brain cancer as not medically necessary. The excuse they gave is that the treatment is "experimental" and therefore not covered. The fact that the letter was addressed to the infant, along with the truly heartless denial of coverage makes one wonder - is this insurance company run by robots?

Woman's brain is leaking out the back of her skull

Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
© SWNSThis X-RAY rendering shows what Gearing's neck will look like after the surgery.
This one is tragic and scary. From Fox:
Sarah Gearing, 40, has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which causes her body's connective tissues to collapse, meaning that her joints frequently fall apart. The condition is currently causing her brain to drop out of her skull, and she is in need of $170,000 for a 10-hour operation to fix it.

Her brain has slipped 7-mm out of place and is prventing fluid from circulating between the brain and spine. The condition also causes chronic pain, both physical and mental, and has left her joints so loose that when she sneezes her ribs dislocate.
Gearing is trying to raise the money via a crowdfunding page to have a unique operation which will take place in Barcelona. "The surgery I need involves a total neck fusion and procedures to put my brain back where it belongs and permanently relieve the compression on my spinal cord," Gearing tells Fox News. "The neurosurgeon said to me if I don't have the surgery in November it's unlikely I'll make it to Christmas."