The teenager was reportedly told that her university exam would be annulled if she chose to visit the toilet
A student suffered bleeding and was taken to hospital amid claims she was refused permission to use the toilet during a university exam.
The 19-year-old, a student at the University of Palermo in Sicily, was reportedly told by invigilators that her test would be torn up if she visited the toilet.
According to reports in Italy, the university has taken a particularly tough stance on exam conditions after a number of cheating scandals.
The unnamed teen's sister, Floriana, told Today.it: "She suffers from a urinary tract problem and was visibly suffering.
"But they told her that if she went to the bathroom her test would be annulled.”
Measures put in place to prevent cheating include students only being allowed to leave the exam room one at a time.
After the student finished her exam she was apparently made to wait 40 minutes before she could go to the toilet.
Her sister said she was so keen to secure a place on a medical course that she suffered in silence and ended up in hospital.
Floriana added: "As soon as she got to the bathroom she was bleeding due to a hemorrhagic cystitis.”
To add insult to injury, the girl's iPhone had disappeared after being handed into the moderators at the start of her exam.