Mans seemingly harmless mistake after a night of drinking led to acute heart failure
Let’s be real: most of us don’t look our best after a night of heavy drinking.So when one man woke up with a swollen face and puffy eyelids, he figured he was just paying the price of partying. But it wasn’t last night’s liquor coming back to haunt him.Instead, it was a rare and deadly heart condition — and one well-intentioned mistake nearly cost him his life. When the swelling didn’t let up, the 33-year-old Chinese man sought medical help — but doctors came up empty.Initial testing found no problems with his heart, but doctors noticed that he had unusually high levels of protein in his urine.
They suspected that might explain the puffiness in his face, handed him a prescription and sent him home.But his condition only got worse. Soon, the swelling spread from his face to the rest of his body.His chest began to tighten.
His abdomen swelled.And still, no one had a clear answer.After bouncing from appointment to appointment, he was finally admitted to the emergency room at Qilu Hospital in Qingdao — three months after the symptoms first appeared.That’s when doctors finally uncovered the real cause: a ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (RSOVA) — a rare and potentially deadly heart condition. In the Journal of Medical Case Reports, doctors wrote that they believe the rupture was likely triggered by “strenuous exercise” after drinking alcohol, which caused the face of the “previously healthy” man to swell. Something to think about before hitting the gym hungover.Sinus of Valsalva aneurysms are rare, affecting just 0.09% of the population.
Most people don’t know they have one until it ruptures, often triggered by activities like vigorous exercise or heavy lifting.When that rupture happens, symptoms can vary wildly: from chest pain and shortness of breath to fainting, fatigue — or, in this man’s case, a slow, creeping full-body swell.Left untreated, RSOVA often leads to heart failure and death within a year.But with early diagno...