Acquired Methemoglobinaemia

Acquired methemoglobinaemia is a relatively rare condition and, therefore infrequently encountered in acute medical practice. Suspicion of the condition may be triggered when the measured PaO2 is ‘out of keeping’ with the oxygen saturations that are discovered with pulse oximetry. We describe two se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSultan Qaboos University medical journal Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 237 - 241
Main Authors Adil Al-Lawati, Nick Murch
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Sultan Qaboos University 01.05.2012
Subjects
case report
methaemoglobinaemia
methylene blue
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Summary:Acquired methemoglobinaemia is a relatively rare condition and, therefore infrequently encountered in acute medical practice. Suspicion of the condition may be triggered when the measured PaO2 is ‘out of keeping’ with the oxygen saturations that are discovered with pulse oximetry. We describe two separate cases of acquired methemoglobinaemia secondary to the recreational use of alkyl nitrites (’poppers’). The patients presented at separate times to two different teaching hospitals in London, UK. The similarity of these cases has led the authors to conclude that a raised awareness of this potentially fatal condition, and its association with a widely-available recreational drug, is necessary to ensure a correct and timely diagnosis.
ISSN:2075-051X
2075-0528