A night of drinking turned into a life-threatening medical mystery for one Chinese man who initially brushed off his symptoms as just a bad hangover. When the 33-year-old woke up with severe facial swelling, he assumed it was simply the aftermath of a heavy drinking session. But as days turned into weeks, the swelling spread to other parts of his body, accompanied by chest tightness and abdominal bloating – clear signs something was seriously wrong.
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After three months of medical investigations and initial misdiagnoses, doctors finally uncovered the terrifying truth: he was suffering from a ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (RSOVA), a rare heart condition where part of the aortic wall swells and bursts. What made his case even more unusual was how it manifested – with facial swelling rather than typical heart symptoms.
Medical professionals at Qilu Hospital in Qingdao later determined that strenuous exercise after drinking likely triggered the rupture in this otherwise healthy patient. The condition is so rare it affects only 0.09% of the population, but can lead to heart failure if untreated. Thankfully, emergency surgery saved the man’s life, and he made a full recovery after 18 months.
