Suppose you passed a worm one foot long!
In medicine, it might be said trivial decisions can cause needless deaths.
The Canadian Medical Association Journal reports that a 22-year-old woman, who had been in good health, was examined due to
Suppose you passed a worm one foot long!
In medicine, it might be said trivial decisions can cause needless deaths.
The Canadian Medical Association Journal reports that a 22-year-old woman, who had been in good health, was examined due to a four-day history of hemorrhagic lesions on both legs. During that time the lesions had been increasing in number.
She stated that neither she nor her family had experienced previous bleeding problems. Nor was she taking medication that could have triggered the bleeding.
Examination showed her temperature was normal. Cardiovascular, respiratory and abdominal exams were normal. And there was no evidence of physical trauma.
However, seven days before her admission to hospital she had returned from a visit to northeastern Peru. While travelling in Peru, she had decided one day not to wear shoes, and had unexpectedly stepped on five caterpillars. She immediately experienced a burning pain in her foot that radiated to her thigh. It increased when she walked. Later, she developed a headache. But during the following 12 hours the pain and headache subsided and she decided not to seek medical attention.
Doctors in Canada were not sure of the diagnosis. But initially they believed that blood within the patient's vessels was clotting for unknown reasons. They decided, in view of her trip to Peru, that they would use Medline and Google Scholar to find a diagnosis. They discovered that two species of caterpillar could cause symptoms