This week, in Weird Patient, a teenager whose skin took on a mysterious blue color a few days after Christmas. A bad move from the Grinch? No way ! It’s the fault of blue sheets received as a gift…
This is called receiving a poisoned gift… It is December 2023. Escorted by her family, an 18-year-old Canadian teenager presents herself at the hospital with strange symptoms: runny nose, cough, fever… and a bluish complexion! Enough to leave the doctors perplexed, especially since the young woman does not have any breathing difficulties, and her vital signs are normal, reports Medscape in an article published in December 2023.
His blood, perfectly oxygenated, finally eliminates the diagnosis of a blood oxygenation problem, leaving doctors no other choice than to carry out an investigation and discover that the person responsible is none other… than ‘a pair of blue sheets received at Christmas! Sheets containing dyes that caused a very unusual allergic reaction by coloring his skin in an unexpected way. Coloring which, fortunately, ended up disappearing after applicationapplication cotton soaked inalcoholalcohol.
A rare case of skin reaction which ultimately turned out to be much less serious than the first diagnosis most likely to explain the colorcolor of the patient’s skin: cyanosis.
These diseases that alter skin color
Characterized by a bluish or purplish complexion of the skin or mucous membranes, cyanosis occurs when the blood is no longer sufficiently oxygenated to appear bright red and then takes on a bluish tint: in cases of respiratory failure, malformationmalformation cardiac preventing the heart from pumping blood to distribute it throughout the body, but also in certain cases of poisoning or allergic reactions. It generally disappears with treatments adapted to each patient.
Another disease likely to give your skin a suspicious color: methemoglobinemia, caused in particular by certain medications or industrial poisons. It can, in turn, lead to brownish cyanosis which is not corrected by oxygen, since it is caused by high levels of methemoglobin, an oxidized form ofhemoglobinhemoglobinthere proteinprotein responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood. This more serious condition can cause serious or even fatal symptoms.
It is all the more complicated to manage as it can interfere with traditional oxygen saturation measurements such aspulse oximeterpulse oximeter. In fact, it works by measuring oxygen saturation using the lightlight passing through the blood through a sensorsensor, usually placed on the finger. However, methemoglobinemia changes the way light is absorbed by the blood, which distorts oxygen saturation measurements. Hence special measures are taken to correctly assess oxygen saturation in people with methemoglobinemia.
But don’t panic, this kind of reaction is, fortunately, rare. Conclusion: if your skin turns orange or purple, check your Christmas presents and try cleansing yourself with alcohol, you might be in for some surprises! If that doesn’t work, it is obviously advisable to contact health professionals as quickly as possible.
