Rare Disease Discovered In Child After Heart Attack Triggered From Biting Into A Hot Dog

Photo: cyclonebill on Wikimedia Commons.

Imagine biting into a hot dog, then the next thing you remember is waking up in a hospital bed. Doctors are telling you that you have a rare disease and you now have an implant in your heart. Sounds terrifying, right?

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to a 9-year-old boy in Turkey. According to a study from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the boy bit into a hot dog then went into cardiac arrest. Upon his arrival at the hospital, doctors noticed an irregular heartbeat rhythm. After further testing. doctors diagnosed the child with a rare condition: Brugada syndrome.

This rare heart rhythm disorder is potentially life-threatening because it causes tachycardia, meaning that the heart beats too fast for blood to flow properly. Thus, heart attacks are more likely to occur, though other symptoms include dizziness or passing out. A high fever, drinking alcohol, or even going to sleep can be fatal for those with Brugada syndrome.

In the case of the boy from Turkey, his big bite caused a major nerve to trigger Brugada syndrome. The nerve stimulated his heart beat to rapidly increase, resulting in a heart attack, and an implant was needed to control his heart. While that sounds scary, the child is okay now thanks to the doctors, implant, and resuscitation after passing out.

In the future, the doctors who published the study on this child hope that it will influence more medical practitioners to test for Brugada syndrome when kids have heart attacks after choking on food. Like it did in the case of this boy, it could very well save someone else’s life.