An Australian man in his 60s experienced nausea, dizziness, and skewed vision after a routine tooth extraction. He later discovered that he had a rare condition that causes the blood arteries in the brain to deteriorate.
While it is impossible to rule out a connection between the bleeding and the dental surgery, the authors of a recent case study believe a sudden spike in blood pressure was what caused the intracerebral hemorrhage.
The patient’s blood pressure was understandably high even in the emergency room. It was obvious that something wasn’t quite right neurologically because of his strong leftward eye movement, awkward walk, and strongly rightward posture.
In such circumstances, a stroke is one of the first diagnoses to be ruled out. An immediate CT scan identified a tiny hemorrhage pressing on tissues in the patient’s bottom left part of the brain.
The blood veins that supply the brain are extremely important organs, therefore they don’t just randomly leak. In reality, they are well designed to keep everything but the bare necessities away from delicate neurons and the cells that support them.
Finding the origin of an intracerebral hemorrhage therefore becomes a top concern. The patient recently underwent a straightforward CT scan just six weeks prior to being recently suspected of having Parkinson’s disease.
Although there were considerable indications of something known as “white matter disease,” which is a general term for damage to the brain’s supporting “white cells” brought on by decreased blood flow, there were no overt blood vessel concerns.
The medical staff mapped the afflicted regions and types of brain tissue using an MRI to gain a more thorough look. Localized areas of white matter disease once more suggested a more serious, long-lasting pathology.
The medical disorder known by the abbreviation CADASIL, or cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, impairs the flow of blood through small blood arteries, particularly those that wind through brain tissue.
Thought to afflict as few as 2 out of every 100,000 individuals, the ailment is frequently overlooked or misunderstood, making it difficult to determine with certainty how widespread it may be.
The muscles that surround the blood vessels prematurely die due to a gene mutation that codes for certain receptor proteins, weakening the capillaries to the point of occlusion. Leukoencephalopathy, or the loss of the white matter of the brain, is frequently the final outcome.
After only one DNA test for a damaged NOTCH3 gene, the patient was diagnosed. Although he recovered from this bleed over the course of the following few months, he was given a long-term aspirin regimen to keep his blood flowing more smoothly and a blood pressure-lowering medicine.
Patients with CADASIL may experience more blockages than hemorrhages, at least in comparison to other abnormalities that can cause a stroke. In actuality, this case study is the first to outline a brain bleed in a CADASIL-afflicted dentistry patient.
Only three previous instances of intracerebral hemorrhages occurring while a patient is in the dentist’s chair are mentioned in the medical literature. In one example, a 52-year-old woman with a severe abscess was described more than 30 years ago. Unfortunately, she passed away due to a sizable intracerebral hemorrhage.
It pays to remember that the dentist is your brain’s closest friend before you cite such uncommon cases of neurological trauma as a justification to put off your next checkup.
Gum disease over a long period of time may increase your risk of Alzheimer’s by as much as 70%. Similar to poor oral hygiene, memory-related brain regions may become smaller.
Say ‘ah’ while remaining composed. There’s a considerable chance that you’ll continue to smile for a long time.
This research was published in BMJ Case Reports.
