<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">We report the case of a 27-year-old male patient who presented with refractory hypoxemia following the alleged inhalation of an unknown substance. The patient appeared to show worsening cyanosis despite increment of supplemental oxygenation. A drawn sample of the patient’s blood appeared chocolate brown in color, and disparity was noted between the patient’s oxygen saturation (SaO2) in his blood against the pulse oximetry (SpO2) reading. A diagnosis of toxic methemoglobinemia was established following elevated levels of methemoglobin discovered in his blood. The patient was started on methylene blue and instantaneously recovered without any complications. Methemoglobinemia should be suspected in any patient with refractory cyanosis, and early recognition of this condition could be potentially lifesaving.</abstract>

We report the case of a 27-year-old male patient who presented with refractory hypoxemia following the alleged inhalation of an unknown substance. The patient appeared to show worsening cyanosis despite increment of supplemental oxygenation. A drawn sample of the patient’s blood appeared chocolate brown in color, and disparity was noted between the patient’s oxygen saturation (SaO2) in his blood against the pulse oximetry (SpO2) reading. A diagnosis of toxic methemoglobinemia was established following elevated levels of methemoglobin discovered in his blood. The patient was started on methylene blue and instantaneously recovered without any complications. Methemoglobinemia should be suspected in any patient with refractory cyanosis, and early recognition of this condition could be potentially lifesaving.

Gasping on Oxygen: A Case Report on Toxic Methemoglobinemia

Journal of Interdisciplinary Medicine

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{"article-title":"Gasping on Oxygen: A Case Report on Toxic Methemoglobinemia"}

We report the case of a 27-year-old male patient who presented with refractory hypoxemia following the alleged inhalation of an unknown substance. The patient...

Gasping on Oxygen: A Case Report on Toxic Methemoglobinemia

Published Online: Jul 17, 2021

Page range: 112 - 115

Received: Nov 27, 2020

Accepted: Dec 15, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jim-2021-0001

Keywords
cyanosis, methemoglobinemia, methylene blue

© 2021 Mahavishnu Sahadevan et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Gasping on Oxygen: A Case Report on Toxic Methemoglobinemia

Published Online: Jul 17, 2021

Page range: 112 - 115

Received: Nov 27, 2020

Accepted: Dec 15, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jim-2021-0001

Keywordscyanosis, methemoglobinemia, methylene blue

© 2021 Mahavishnu Sahadevan et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
cyanosis, methemoglobinemia, methylene blue