Author/Authors :
Ribeiro Paixão, Milena Emergency Department - Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil , Augusto Duenhas Accorsi, Tarso Emergency Department - Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil , Felipe Lopes Prada, Luis Emergency Department - Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil , Zoboli Pocebon, Lucas Emergency Department - Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil , De Amicis Lima, Karine Emergency Department - Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil , Francine Köhler, Karen Emergency Department - Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil , Santini Echenique, Leandro Cardiology Department - Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil , Leão de Souza Júnior, José Emergency Department - Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Abstract :
Cyanosis is typically a sign of a potentially life-threatening condition in the emergency department and requires
immediate workup and treatment. This case report highlights the diagnostic reasoning and clinical approach
to cocaine- and volatile nitrite–induced methemoglobinemia (MHG). MHG is a rare, life-threatening
cause of cyanosis. The diagnosis must be suspected in the emergency department in the presence of hypoxia
and cyanosis disproportionate to cardiopulmonary repercussions and refractory to oxygen supplementation.
Acquired causes are more prevalent than genetics, and recreational drugs should be highly suspected. Despite
the rarity of this situation, cyanosis precipitants and the specificities of each hemoglobinopathy are reviewed in
this article
Keywords :
Methemoglobinemia , Cocaine , Nitrites , Emergency Medicine , Case Reports
