Woman to undergo liver transplant after nose piercing leads to life-threatening disease



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abc7 Dana smith

A New York woman is recovering after a puncture infection in her nose led to a life-threatening illness, which required her to undergo a liver transplant.

Queens resident Dana Smith, 37, had her nose pierced shortly after Thanksgiving, CBS New York reported Thursday.

About a month later, Smith started having an upset stomach but was reluctant to go to the hospital due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to CBS New York, Smith described his symptoms as “stomach pain. I felt like I had lost my appetite ”.

“I didn’t want to go to the hospital with COVID,” she told the point of sale. But the pain got so bad that “it got to the point where I felt like I had no choice.”

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“I was just drinking water, I couldn’t hold the water,” Smith told ABC 7, revealing that her symptoms got so much worse that she “started throwing up blood.”

Her sister took her to the Long Island Jewish Medical Center on Jan.12, where doctors quickly assessed that she needed a liver transplant and had fulminant hepatitis B, ABC 7 reported.

According to the Merck Manual, fulminant hepatitis is “a rare syndrome of rapid (usually within days or weeks), massive necrosis of the hepatic parenchyma and a decrease in liver size” which “usually occurs after infection with certain viruses. hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis or medication – induced liver injury (DILI). “

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Smith was transferred to the North Shore University Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma while awaiting a transplant match. One was found within 48 hours and was operated on on January 17.

Although doctors quickly diagnosed Smith, the cause of fulminant hepatitis B was initially a mystery.

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Through a process of elimination, medical professionals determined that the culprit was an infection from a nose piercing that had not been detected.

“It was the only one-time change that had taken place in her life, that nose ring,” said Dr. Lewis Teperman, director of transplant services at Northwell. “And now is the perfect time to incubate the virus.”

Smith, who returned home on January 26, credits the decision to finally go to the hospital for saving her life – and shares her story so she can help someone else in need. go to the hospital to receive treatment.

“It’s very upsetting. Emotionally, everything, mentally,” she told ABC 7.

At CBS New York, Smith added, “Even with COVID going on, you should still go get checked out because you never know. This decision saved my life.”

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