title: Ghost spell or hematohidrosis.
abstract: Hematohidrosis is a rare condition of excreting blood in sweat, tears or any other part of the body, with varied underlying etiologies and variable success to different available treatment modalities. We are reporting one such case of an adult female who could secrete blood from eyes and ears simultaneously either due to crying as a result of emotional outburst or even sometimes voluntarily. Considering her origin from tribal culture, she was often thought to be victim of some evil spell. The lady had taken various spiritual treatments from Pirs and various forms of medical treatments from homeopaths, quacks and medical doctors, but of no relief. She was treated for 2 months with non-selective beta blocker (propanolol 10 mg thrice daily) along with psychotherapy. She did improve symptomatically but did not get complete cure. Eventually she was lost to follow-up as is common in female patients of tribal background. To our knowledge, this is the first such reported case from Pakistan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Combined Military Hospital, Quetta. shahidrazakhalid@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Shahid Raza
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Khalid
authors.forename: Shahzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maqbool
authors.forename: Nusrat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raza
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mukhtar
authors.forename: Aamer
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ikram
authors.forename: Shahbaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qureshi
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D059012:Lost to Follow-Up; D011433:Propranolol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011613:Psychotherapy; D013542:Sweat / Q000502:physiology; D013543:Sweat Gland Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013546:Sweating / Q000502:physiology; D013666:Tears / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D011433:Propranolol