A woman needed a life-saving blood transfusion after using an e-cigarette for the first time.
The 21-year-old from India suffered severe pain in her ribs and back shortly after using the device.
Doctors said she was suffering from vascular occlusion – when red blood cells block blood vessels in the lungs – and “acute chest syndrome” – a potentially life-threatening complication in which patients struggle to breathe.
The woman was a patient with sickle cell anemia, a genetic disorder that causes patients’ red blood cells to become sickle-shaped under stressful conditions.
Nicotine in e-cigarettes causes blood vessels to constrict, putting pressure on them and increasing the risk of sickle cell formation.
The woman was smoking e-cigarettes with her friend before the pain started. At the hospital, she gave the device to doctors and said she did not want to use it again.
The woman needed a blood transfusion after using an e-cigarette. She suffers from sickle cell anemia and people with this genetic condition are advised to avoid e-cigarettes
The woman in India used a Vaporesso XROS vaping device. The taste of the device is not specified
The device she used – a Vaporesso XROS – was a brand sold in the US that comes in a variety of flavors including menthol, guava-peach and wild white grape.
The case was revealed in the American Journal of Case Reports. The patient’s name has not been released.
Dr. Ganga Girish, a doctor who treated her, and others wrote in the case report: “The increasing popularity of e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, is due in part to the misconception that they are safer than traditional cigarettes.”
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“Although firm conclusions will depend on studies, this case suggests that the acute side effects of… [vapes] can lead to complications of sickle cell anemia, especially if asthma is a comorbidity.”
On examination, doctors found that the “sickle-shaped” blood vessels had lodged in the blood vessels of her chest and leg, causing a blood clot.
They gave her a blood transfusion, which can thin the sickle cells in the blood and help relieve blood clots. In past cases, it has also helped relieve pain by eliminating blood clots.
At the hospital, she also received oxygen and intravenous painkillers.
Doctors gradually reduced the amount of medication, but on the fourth day of her hospital stay, she became stressed when she saw another patient being resuscitated.
This led doctors to increase the dose of her painkillers and then decrease them again as her condition improved.
She stayed in the hospital for seven days and had no long-term effects from vaping.
The woman was described as giving medics the e-cigarette device, which she took out of her pocket, and said she no longer wanted to use the device.
Vaporesso is an e-cigarette brand founded in 2015 by Shenzhen-based Smoore Technology – which claims to be the world’s largest supplier of e-cigarettes.
The company, valued at more than $25 billion, also owns the brands CCELL, FEELM, Revenant and Renova.
It also produces vapors that are sold by many tobacco companies around the world.
About 100,000 Americans suffer from sickle cell anemia.
It is caused by a genetic mutation that causes patients to have abnormal hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that allows them to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
In affected patients, red blood cells initially have a normal, round shape, but quickly discolor into a “sickle” shape when exposed to a lack of oxygen or stressful conditions.
For this reason, patients with this condition are advised not to smoke or vape, as the disease they cause in the lungs increases the risk of developing sickle cell disease.
Acute chest syndrome is a leading cause of death in patients with sickle cell anemia.
People with the condition live an average of 43 years in the US, which is almost half of the typical American life expectancy of 77 years.
Sickle cells are unable to carry oxygen and increase the risk of blood clots because their odd shape makes them more likely to get stuck in blood vessels.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Vaporesso XROS for comment.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
