A woman has suffered from brain fluid leak in her nose after undergoing a COVID-19 nasal swab test.
The test, reported Thursday in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, ruptured the lining on the base of the woman’s skull that caused cerebrospinal fluid to leak from her nose and putting her at risk of brain infection.
The 40-year-old American woman had a rare skull condition but the test may not have been carried out properly, said the report.
The Iowa woman had gone for a nasal test as she was scheduled to undergo a surgery for hernia. She was the first person known to experience brain fluid leakage after a COVID-19 nasal swab test.
“She had been swabbed previously for another procedure, same side, no problems at all. She feels like maybe the second swab was not using the best technique, and that the entry was a little bit high,” Jarrett Walsh, senior author of the paper that appeared in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, told AFP.
She experienced headache, vomiting, neck stiffness, and aversion to light. Doctors used a shunt to drain some of the fluid and her condition had reportedly improved.
Walsh added that the symptoms she developed were a result of irritation to the lining of the brain.
If her condition were untreated, the woman could’ve been susceptible to life threatening bacterial infection. She has now recovered, based on reports.
This brings attention to the importance of training clinicians and patients on how to conduct COVID-19 tests safely, the report said.
