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Nicolette Nabukeera-Barungi, Edison Mworozi. Sudden onset methaemoglobinaemia in a previously well Ugandan child: a case report and literature review. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2012;11:49 Key words: Methaemoglobinaemia, intoxication, nitrites, food preservatives, Hemoglobine, Uganda Permanent link: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/11/49/full Received: 22/04/2011 - Accepted: 23/01/2012 - Published: 19/03/2012 © Nicolette Nabukeera-Barungi et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Sudden onset methaemoglobinaemia in a previously well Ugandan child: a case report and literature review
Nicolette Nabukeera-Barungi1,&, Edison Mworozi1
1Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University, College of Health Sciences and Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda
&Corresponding author
Nicolette Nabukeera-Barungi, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University, College of Health Sciences and Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda
Methaemoglobinaemia is a rare condition of unknown prevalence. Diagnostic tests in resource limited settings are very rare but clinical signs can be a good guide. We set out to describe a case of Methaemoglobinaemia, raise awareness among practitioners in resource limited settings and to share experiences in its diagnosis and management. A previously well three and a half year old girl was admitted with central cyanosis of sudden onset. She underwent clinical, laboratory and radiological evaluation. Having been in a resource limited setting, the process of making a diagnosis was slow and difficult. After the diagnosis, the treatment was not available in the country but we managed to get it all the way from Nairobi, Kenya. A diagnosis of Methaemoglobinaemia was made using Spectrophotometry and she was successfully treated using 2 doses of intravenous Methylene blue. The cause of Methaemoglobinaemia was established to have been nitrites from food preservatives.
