Eighteen Year Old Music Student in Portland Dies After Wisdom Teeth Removal

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An eighteen year old male high school student planning to study music in college died last February in Portland, Maine, after having his wisdom teeth removed. The story is from Portland Press Herald, by Matt Byrne, posted February 26, 2014, titled “Love, sorrow, questions after Cheverus student’s death,” and accessed March 21, 2014. See http://www.pressherald.com/news/Cheverus_senior__budding_musician__dies_after_routine_oral_surgery_.html. The article describes the eighteen year old man as independent and compassionate and able to play the trumpet, bassoon, saxophone and English concertina. In this particular case the man had wisdom teeth extracted on a Wednesday in February. He then went home and two days later on Friday night his condition deteriorated. He is said to have died in the early hours Saturday in his mother’s arms at home. In the article Dr. Thomas Dodson, who now is with the University of Washington in Seattle … Read more

Mother of Two in Hawaii in a Coma After Wisdom Teeth Surgery

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A sad story in Hawaii has come out recently where a 23 year old mother of two has been left in a coma since having wisdom teeth surgery. This story is reported by Hawaii News Now in an article titled “Hilo woman in coma following wisdom teeth extraction,” written on March 19, 2014, by Tim Sakahara, located over at http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/25023450/hilo-woman-in-coma-following-wisdom-teeth-extraction. The woman had four wisdom teeth extracted and went into cardiac arrest during the surgery. She was flown to a medical center in Hawaii and has been unresponsive since. She has a healthy four year old son and three month old baby. She was reported to be in good health. It is not clear what anesthesia was given. I have previously reported other cases of coma and death from wisdom teeth extraction see http://www.teethremoval.com/death.html.

Migraine Associated with Changes in Structure of Arteries

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A recent study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has shown the arteries supplying blood flow to the brain is more likely to be incomplete in people who experience migraine. The arterial supply of blood to the brain is protected by numerous connections between the major arteries which is known as the circle of Willis. Those who experience migraine and especially migraine with aura are more likely than those without migraine to be missing some components of the circle of Willis. These structural changes in the circle of Willis are something people are born with. In this study, which appeared in PLOS ONE, the researchers suggest that these structural alterations of the blood supply to the brain may increase susceptibility to changes in cerebral blood flow, which may contribute to abnormal neuronal activity … Read more

Migraine May Alter Brain Structure Permanently

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An article appearing in Neurology, explores the effects of a migraine on the brain’s structure on a long term basis. The study suggests that migraine may permanently alter brain structure which is counter to previously held beliefs that migraine has no long term consequence for the brain.  For example, see the post titled Are Migraine Related Changes Related to Impaired Cognition? where a study concluded that women with migraine have no long term effects of cognition over time. See also the post Do Migraines Lead to Cognitive Decline? In the current study, researchers explored 6 population based studies and 13 clinic based studies to determine if people who have migraine had an increased risk of brain lesions, brain volume changes, or other abnormalities as measured from an MRI of the brain. The researchers found that migraine with aura increased the … Read more

Asphyxia Due to Compression of the Trachea Leading to Death After Wisdom Tooth Extraction

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As discussed before on this website, having a wisdom tooth extracted can in rare instances lead to death. This is expanded on over at the wisdom teeth death page http://www.teethremoval.com/death.html. At the time of writing this, at least 67 deaths have been listed on this page attributable to wisdom teeth removal. In a recent case a 74 year old man has passed away in Japan after having a mandibular wisdom tooth extracted. A case report of this is described in Wataru Kawashima, Katsuhiko Hatake, Yoshifumi Morimura, Risa Kudo, Mari Nakanishi, Shigehiro Tamaki, Shogo Kasuda, Katsuya Yuui, and Akiko Ishitani, “Asphyxial death related to postextraction hematoma in an elderly man,” Foresnic Science International, vol. 288, e47-e49, 2013. In the article the authors describe how after having wisdom teeth extracted it is possible to develop bleeding. In some cases massive bleeding and … Read more