Stressed-out 11-year-old bleeds out of his eyes, nose and ears due to super-rare disorder

Scary secretions.In what sounds like a horror movie, an 11-year-old Indian boy began inexplicably bleeding out of his eyes, nose and ears.According to the case, documented in Sage Journals, the boy’s bloody episodes began for no obvious reason, caused the child no pain, and typically stopped within minutes.His parents took him to an emergency room after the disturbing episodes persisted for more than a month.

Upon examination, doctors could find no clear source or cause for the bleeding.While test results confirmed the presence of blood in the secretions, they showed that the boy had normal blood counts and von Willebrand factor levels.He was ultimately diagnosed with hematohidrosis, also known as “bloody sweat,” a rare disorder where a patient will spontaneously secrete blood or a blood-tinged fluid through sweat glands, the mouth, nose, ears, tear ducts or nipples.Hematohidrosis is notoriously difficult to diagnose and can be mistaken for self-harm, Munchausen syndrome or other bleeding disorders like von Willebrand disease, which compromises the body’s ability to form blood clots.Incredibly rare, fewer than 50 cases of hematohidrosis have been documented, though study authors note that symptoms are more likely to occur in adolescents, particularly in Asian populations in India and Pakistan.Approximately 84% of patients who present with hematohidrosis are female.Hematohidrosis episodes are commonly associated with extreme emotional or psychological stress. In this case, the boy’s parents noted that the bleeding often coincided with the trifecta of “academic stress, peer pressure, or parental expectations regarding academic performance.”Owing to this, the boy and his parents were given a psychological assessment outside of active bleeding episodes.The psychiatrist assigned to the case focused on identifying the emotional triggers, behavioral responses, and psychosocial stressors that accompanied each episode.The boy reported that he experienced se...