Tooth-in-eye surgery, ‘blood chimerism,’ and a pregnancy from oral sex: 12 wild medical cases we covered in 2025
Each week, Live Science highlights a fascinating case report from the medical literature, in which we explore unusual symptoms, rarely seen diagnoses, and ready-to-use treatments. Thanks to this “Diagnostic dilemma“, we describe how doctors work to finally discover the cause of a patient’s illness. In complex cases, this diagnostic process can be quite arduous. This is part of the reason doctors share case reports: to help other healthcare professionals who might be facing the same conundrum.
Here are 12 of our most intriguing diagnostic dilemmas from the past year. (If descriptions of symptoms and medical procedures make you hesitant, proceed with caution.)
1. The boy spoke a foreign language after the operation
A Dutch teenager underwent knee surgery to treat a football-related injury and when he woke up from anesthesia he spoke only English, a language he previously only spoke in language classes at school. He kept insisting that he was in the United States, that he didn’t recognize his parents, and that he couldn’t speak or understand spoken Dutch, his native language. Examinations revealed no neurological abnormalities and doctors did not implement any specific treatment to resolve the language problem. Within 18 hours of the operation, the boy could understand some Dutch but could not speak it without difficulty. But suddenly he could both understand it and speak it normally. Doctors described the event as a strange case of “foreign language syndrome”“.
2. A woman without a vaginal opening becomes pregnant orally
A teenager presented to the hospital with abdominal pain and tests will be carried out soon revealed she was nine months pregnant and she was having contractions. When doctors examined the patient’s reproductive tract, they found that she had no vaginal opening – a rare condition called distal vaginal atresia. For this reason, the medical team had to deliver the baby by cesarean section. The teen had been seen at the same hospital about nine months before, when an ex stabbed her after finding her fucking a new boyfriend. The injuries she suffered in the stabbing likely allowed sperm to escape her digestive tract and make their way into her reproductive tract, leading to an unlikely pregnancy, her doctors theorized.
3. A man stabbed by a huge fish
A man was taken to hospital by boat and helicopter after being injured while fishing. He had caught a white marlin (Kajikia albida) – a large fish with a long, sharp “beak” – and when he leaned over the side of his boat to unhook his hook from the fish, the fish jumped and hit him. At the hospital, doctors found a fragment of the fish’s beak lodged in the man’s throatspinal canal and base of its skull. Thanks to emergency surgery and antibiotics to prevent infections, the man survived the encounter without any long-term symptoms.
4. Acupuncture led to joint damage
A woman with osteoarthritis of the knee began using acupuncture regularly when her painkillers began causing her stomach problems. But then her knees became very painful and she went to the hospital to be checked out. X-rays revealed areas of his joints and shins where bone tissue had thickened and spurs had formed. Additionally, hundreds of tiny spots could be seen around both knee joints. It turned out that the woman’s acupuncturists had she intentionally left golden threads inside her knees as part of his treatment. In other cases, these threads have caused cysts and tissue damage, which can occur as they migrate through the body.
5. The man suffers from a rare meat allergy
A Michigan man went to the emergency room with swollen eyelids and an itchy rash, and noted that he had also experienced cramping, nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting in the preceding days. When doctors examined the patient, they found signs of anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction, and his condition quickly progressed to shock. The medical team managed to stabilize the patient, but a few days later his condition worsened further. At that point, doctors spotted a pattern: The symptoms appeared when the man ate red meat. A meat allergy, called alpha-gal syndrome, can be triggered by the bite of certain species of ticks. It turned out that the the man was an avid deer hunter and likely encountered an adult tick or tick larvae while hunting, his doctors concluded.
6. A woman had XY chromosomes in her blood
A woman had her chromosomes checked after a miscarriage to see if there might be an underlying genetic reason for the miscarriage. The test revealed that, at least in the woman’s blood, her chromosome profile (or karyotype) was 46,XY – the typical karyotype in men. Further testing revealed that in the rest of her tissue, her karyotype was 46.XX, the typical chromosome profile for a woman. The woman had a fraternal twin, therefore in this case of “chimerism“, doctors concluded that the XY chromosomes probably came from her brother in the womb, but had somehow assimilated them only into his blood cells. Doctors suspected that “the veins and arteries of the two children became intertwined in the umbilical cord” at some point. The woman had no overt symptoms related to carrying these chromosomes in her blood and subsequently carried a pregnancy that resulted in the birth of a little boy.
7. A woman injects herself with black widow venom
A woman went to the emergency room with headaches, severe cramps and muscle pain, as well as elevated pulse, respiratory rate and blood pressure. She told doctors she tried to get high by injecting a crushed black widow spider (Latrodectus) in his veins in a suspension of distilled water. Doctors suspected that the injected dose of black widow venom was likely much higher than what would be obtained from a bite, and that its effects might have been exacerbated by the patient’s allergic reaction to the proteins in the venom. After the patient was treated for several days in an intensive care unit, her symptoms resolved and she was discharged.
8. Nut allergy was triggered by ejaculate
A woman developed hives, swelling under the skin and difficulty breathing after having sex with her partner. While receiving treatment at a hospital, she reported having a known allergy to Brazil nuts. She said her partner ate it a few hours before sex but took a bath and washed his hands thoroughly before sex. When doctors performed an allergy skin test, using samples of the partner’s semen, before and after he ate Brazil nuts, they found that the allergy triggers could in fact pass through the semen and trigger the woman’s allergy.
9. Rash mysteriously migrated
Following cancer treatment, a man developed a red rash that started near the anus and then quickly spread to his trunk and limbs. The rash, which looked like wavy lines all over the patient’s body, seemed to migrate, the lines starting in one place and later moving across the skin. Stool test revealed Strongyloides stercoralisa parasite that can cause an infection called strongyloidiasis in humans. These worms were migrating under the man’s skin and the infection likely occurred because the patient’s immune system was weakened by the glucocorticoids used in his cancer treatment.
10. Rare tooth-in-eye surgery performed
A rare autoimmune disease has injured a man’s corneas and significantly reduced his eyesight. To restore vision in one eye, doctors tried an osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis, or “tooth in the eye surgery”“The procedure involves removing a tooth from the patient and implanting it in their eye socket, where it serves as a platform for a clear plastic lens. The lens replaces the injured cornea and allows light to enter the eye. The man’s successful procedure was the first of its kind in Canada.
11. “Plumping” injections cause a calcium spike
A man went to the hospital because he was experiencing weakness and vomiting. There, tests revealed that his kidneys were failing and his blood calcium levels were too high. Physical exams and scans revealed abnormalities in the muscles of his upper arm and chest, namely areas of very dense calcification. It turned out that the man had already received injections of silicone oil-based substances to “plump” the appearance of his muscles. In this case, the injections triggered a persistent foreign body reaction, leading to extensive scarring and calcification of the muscle that carried calcium into the bloodstream.
12. A scientist catches the plague from dead bacteria
A laboratory worker contracted an infection which, despite medical treatment, proved fatal. His doctors were informed that the patient had been working with a weakened strain of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria responsible for the plague. This weakened form of the germ was thought not to be infectious, but nevertheless, humans contracted it. Further tests revealed that the man had unusually high levels of iron in his blood. One of the ways the plague bacteria had been weakened was that its key gene for iron absorption had been removed – but the man’s blood, which was full of iron, could have allowed the germ to overcome this weakness and develop a deadly infection.
For more intriguing medical cases, check out our Diagnostic Dilemma Archives.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to offer medical advice.
