[A case report of carotenemia].
Carotenemia is a common disease in children, and it is mainly due to excessive intake of food enriched with carotene. A fourteen-year-old girl, whose skin had been discolored yellow for several months, was brought to Kaohsiung Medical College Hospital for examination. Physical examination revealed she had a marked yellow color skin, especially on the palms and soles; conjunctiva was not anemic; sclera was not icteric; breath and heart sounds were normal; liver and spleen were not enlarged. Laboratory examination revealed normal results for the liver function test, however, serum carotene was elevated to 460 micrograms/dl in contrast to 80 micrograms/dl from a same-aged healthy child as a control (normal range of the serum carotene: 50-250 micrograms/dl). Tracing back her past history, she had taken a lot of oranges daily for more than one year. After consulting a nutritionist and changing her eating habits to a balanced diet for eight weeks, the serum carotene level decreased to 270 micrograms/dl (same-aged healthy child: 30 micrograms/dl). The skin color was also improved.
Wu
M T
MT
Liu
W J
WJ
Hsieh
H J
HJ
Liu
H W
HW
D000293:Adolescent; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000097:blood*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007565:Jaundice / Q000175:diagnosis
D002338:Carotenoids