Woman Leaks Brain Fluid from Nose, Docs Say It's Allergies

For over four months, a clear liquid had been leaking out of Aundrea Aragon's nose and it might have eventually proven fatal to her since it turned out to be brain liquid. However, doctors kept assuring her it was nothing but allergies.

Although for four months she had to continuously use towels to stop the liquid flushing out of her nose every time she bent over, and the gravity of her condition was clear, it took several visits to different doctors for a final diagnosis.

“I was walking around with toilet paper shoved up my nose and changing it every 10 minutes,” said Aragon, as cited by Examiner.

“I was scared to death and desperate. I knew it could not be allergies. The fluid would come out like a puddle.”

Aragon underwent surgery at the Medical Center of University of Arizona, Tucson with Dr. Alexander G. Chiu, leader of the otolaryngology department, performing the operation.

Dr. Chiu used a common procedure to reach the patient's brain. First, he injected dye into the woman's vertebral fluid, in order to determine the source of the flow. Afterwards, the cracks were identified in her nasal cavity and the surgery was successfully executed.

The success was even greater, as statistically it is known that in this type of operation, called craniotomy and consisting of the removal of a skull bone to make the access to the brain possible, the chances for success are not higher than 60 percent.

Aundrea Aragon, who is 35 years old and lives in Arizona, experienced a rare brain disorder, called a cerebrospinal fluid leak.

The disease is encountered in only 1 of 100,000 people and it is most likely to occur in corpulent people, with high cranial pressure problems.

If not detected in time, the dysfunction can be deadly, as a consequence of possible infections such as meningitis that can cause the patient more damage than the fluid leak itself.

Aragon, mother of three children aged 16, 10, and 9, is currently recovering at home, surrounded by her family.