A German man at the University Hospital of Cologne had blood that contained so much fat that it turned into a milky, white substance and clogged the machine used to treat him!
It was a clear sign of hyperviscosity syndrome — in which blood abnormally thickens — and quickly led doctors to agree on plasmapheresis as the only logical treatment.
This process essentially extracts blood from the body so doctors can remove the triglycerides causing the viscosity. Then doctors can reinject the cleaned, normal blood back into the patient’s body.
Who knew blood can turn white? Read more about it here!
Image Credits: Koehler et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, 2019
I can understand this happening to an American - but a German? Then again, the German diet does have a lot of fat in it. All that wurst--
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The most interesting part of the story is that this case provides an exammple of a medical justification for the ancient practice of bloodletting.
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