Man, 42, almost dies during sex after brain aneurysm suddenly ruptured
Man, 42, almost dies during sex after brain aneurysm suddenly ruptured
- The 42-year-old man from Indonesia suddenly lost consciousness during sex
- Medics discovered the aneurysm had triggered a traumatic brain injury
A man almost died during sex after his brain aneurysm ruptured.
And medics warned it could have left the 42-year-old with severe brain damage.
He suddenly lost consciousness while having sex with his wife, before vomiting and going weak on the right side of his body.
Attending hospital three hours later, the unidentified man from Surabaya, East Java in Indonesia, also suffered a series of full body seizures on the journey to hospital.
Doctors who treated him, and detailed his case in a medical journal, revealed he had an aneurysm — a bulge in the wall of a blood vessel in the brain.
The 42-year-old suddenly lost consciousness while having sex, before vomiting and experiencing weakness on the right side of his body. Attending hospital three hours later, the unidentified man from Surabaya, East Java in Indonesia also suffered a series of full body seizures on the journey to hospital
During sex, the aneurysm ruptured and caused an acute subdural hematoma (aSDH) — a severe brain injury that causes blood to collect between the skull and the surface of the brain.
Doctors did not explain what suddenly caused his aneurysm to rupture.
But strenuous exercise that causes breathlessness and a spike in heart rate is often the trigger.
Studies have shown that two-thirds of those who suffer an aSDH survive.
What is a brain aneurysm?
An aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall, usually where it branches.
As blood passes through the weakened blood vessel, the blood pressure causes a small area to bulge outwards like a balloon.
Aneurysms can develop in any blood vessel in the body, but the two most common places are:
Most brain aneurysms only cause noticeable symptoms if they burst (rupture).
This leads to an extremely serious condition known as a subarachnoid haemorrhage, where bleeding caused by the ruptured aneurysm can cause extensive brain damage and symptoms.
Symptoms include:
- A sudden agonising headache – it’s been described as a “thunderclap headache”, similar to a sudden hit on the head, resulting in a blinding pain unlike anything experienced before
- A stiff neck
- Sickness and vomiting
- Pain on looking at light
About 3 in 5 people who have a subarachnoid haemorrhage die within 2 weeks.
Half of those who survive are left with severe brain damage and disability.
Source: NHS
But half of those who survive are left with severe brain damage and disability.
The condition is usually caused by a head injury.
But in eight per cent of cases, patients suffer aSDH due to a ruptured aneurysm, according to the doctors.
Writing in Radiology Case Reports, medics at Dr Soetomo General Hospital said the man had not previously experienced any headaches and had no history of trauma.
He had also never taken anticoagulant, antiplatelet or erectile dysfunction medications, which can raise the risk of suffering an aneurysm.
The date of incident was not revealed in the case report.
Results for routine physical exams revealed the man was experiencing dangerously high blood pressure of 183/105 mm Hg.
Ideal blood pressure is considered to be between 90/60 and 120/80 — or below 150/90 if you’re aged over 80, according to the NHS.
Even high blood pressure is considered to be 140/90 — 150/90 or over if you’re aged over 80.
He also scored a six out of 15 on the internationally accepted Glasgow Coma Scale — to assess his eye, verbal and motor responses — indicating his brain injury was severe.
A CT scan revealed he had aSDH on the left side of his brain, which had caused it to swell by 0.4cm.
Medics gave the man anti-seizure medication phenytoin, often used to treat epilepsy seizures.
A week later, the 42-year-old had a cerebral angiography — a scan that provides images of blood vessels in and around the brain — which revealed the aneurysm was 0.8mm in length.
He then underwent surgery to repair the ruptured aneurysm and relieve swelling and pressure on the brain.
Following this treatment, the man recovered the use of the right side of his body.
However, he was left with permanent damage to his oculomotor nerve in his left eye, which controls movement of the eye muscles, constriction of the pupil and helps focus the eye.
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