DOCTORS HAVE WARNED that the “seemingly mundane” act of eating crisps could be “risky” for certain people with an unusual deformity after a 54-year-old woman perforated the tissue separating her oral and nasal cavities while munching a Pringle.

She was left with a two-centimetre hole in her palate, through which food and drink continuously entered her nose from her mouth last Christmas, according to a case report published in the Irish Medical Journal.

The woman had a submucous cleft palate, which is a hole in the roof of the mouth that is covered by a thin layer of tissue. It was undiagnosed until one of the popular potato snacks perforated the skin and exposed the underlying abnormality.

She experienced “nasal regurgitation” with fluids and solids passing into her nasal cavity from her mouth throughout the festive period, and also reported a change in her speech quality due to air leaking through the hole.

The authors of the report noted that eating and speech are “particularly pertinent” functions during the festive season, when most people are “socialising with friends and family, and chanting yuletide hymns”.

The incident occurred on Christmas Day, after which she was examined and a 20mm by 20mm fistula in her palate was discovered. Formal speech assessment confirmed “hypernasality”.

Given the rarity of the occurrence, a biopsy was performed to exclude the possibility of malignancy.

There are “scant reports” in medical literature of traumatic penetration occurring in patients with undiagnosed submucous cleft palate, the authors noted, and this was certainly the first instance of “an acquired fistula caused by a popular potato-based snack”.

The patient underwent formal repair of the fistula in her palate to correct the deformity. Following the operation, there was “an excellent functional result”, resolving the issues of nasal regurgitation and hypernasality. Speech therapy was not required.

The report noted that the only similar case that could be identified involved a burn sustained while eating hot food, which subsequently revealed an undiagnosed submucous cleft palate.

“It can be concluded that the seemingly mundane activity of eating potato snacks may be a risky occupation for those with underlying palatal deficiency,” the authors concluded.