For anybody who has ever witnessed catarrh, the experience
to say the least was not a palatable one.
But what if your catarrh has been troubling you for too long
and what you thought was a serious catarrh is not even a catarrh but something
worse?
This rare condition occurred to Joe Nagy who had thought his
runny nose was caused by allergies, or hay fever. Only after 18 months did the
Arizona resident discover that it was a bigger problem.
“Broop! This clear liquid dribbled out of my nose like tears
out of your eyes,” he told My Fox Phoenix. “I go, ‘what is this?’”
He recalls a particular situation when the “runny nose” made
a mess of some model plane blueprints.
“It was about a teaspoon full, splashed all over the top
sheet. I said, ‘these damn allergies.’” “I was embarrassed as hell.”
“I knew it could not be allergies,” he continued. “The fluid
would come out like a puddle.”
The rare condition bothering Mr. Nagy cerebrospinal fluid
rhinorrhea, or CSF rhinorrhea had to be operated upon before he could be free
from the condition.
CSF rhinorrhea is a condition caused by a small tear or
holes in the membrane surrounding the brain.
It could be as a result of a
severe head injury, complications from surgery or high pressure in the skull
(intracranial pressure).
The CSF rhinorrhea could be a long term problem because of
the fact that the brain produces roughly 17 ounces (500 millilitres) of
cerebrospinal fluid each day.
“This is one of the more common conditions to be missed for
a long time … because so many people have runny noses,” Dr. Peter Nakaji,
neurosurgeon at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, told Fox 10 News.
The danger is that the cerebrospinal fluid can become infected with
life-threatening meningitis if the condition is left untreated.
In Mr. Nagy’s case, he had to be treated for meningitis
before doctors could operate on his CSF rhinorrhea.
The surgery often involve repairing the hole in the leaking
membrane; the operation is performed through the nasal cavity in most cases and
does not require cutting into the brain or skull.
After 18 months of the problem, Mr. Nagy was surprised the
operation was successful and the problem was gone.
“I was waiting for the dribble [because] I was so used to it
everyday,” he told Fox 10 News. “I got my hankie … nothing. It’s never come
back.”
It is reported that it occurs in 1 out of 100,000 or
200,000 people.
My friend, if your runny nose has been troubling you for too
long, you know what to do.
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Discovery: your runny nose could be leaking brain fluid instead of mucus