A woman needed a life-saving blood transfusion after using an e-cigarette for the very first time.
The 21-year-old, from India, was left suffering from severe pain in her ribs and back shortly after using the device.
Doctors said she had suffered vaso-occlusion — or when red blood cells block blood vessels in the lung — and ‘acute chest syndrome’ — a potentially life-threatening complication where patients have difficulty breathing.
The woman was a sickle cell anemia patient, a genetic condition that leaves patients red blood cells at risk of changing into a sickle-shape under stressful conditions.
Nicotine in vapes causes blood vessels to constrict, putting stress on them and raising the risk of sickle cells forming.
The woman had smoked the vape with her friend before the pain began. In hospital, she gave the device to doctors and said she didn’t want to use it again.
The woman needed a blood transfusion after using a vape. She suffers from sickle cell disease, with those with this genetic condition advised to steer clear of vapes
The woman in India had used a vape device from Vaporesso XROS. The flavor of the device was not specified
The device she used — a Vaporesso XROS — was a brand sold in the US that comes in multiple flavors including menthol, guava peach and wild white grape.
The case was revealed in the American Journal of Case Reports. The patient was not named.
Dr Ganga Girish, a doctor who treated her, and others wrote in the case report: ‘The rising popularity of e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, is partly due to the misconception that they are safer than traditional cigarettes.
‘Although firm conclusions will depend on studies…, this case suggests that the acute adverse effects of [vapes] might trigger complications of sickle cell disease, especially with asthma as a comorbidity.’
Upon examination, doctors said the ‘sickle’-shaped blood vessels had become stuck in blood vessels in her chest and leg, causing a blood clot.
They gave her a blood transfusion, which can dilute the sickle cells in the blood helping to ease blood clots. In previous cases, it has also helped to relieve pain by shifting blood clots.
She was also put on oxygen and given pain medications intravenously in hospital.
Doctors were gradually reducing the amount of medication but on day four of her hospitalization she became stressed after witnessing another patient being resuscitated.
This led doctors to increase her pain medication dose before lowering it again as her condition improved.
She stayed in hospital for seven days and has suffered no long-term effects from the vaping.
The woman was described as giving doctors the vape, which she took from her purse, and saying that she did not want to use the device again.
Vaporesso is a vape band launched in 2015 by Shenzhen-based Smoore Technology — which claims to be the largest global vaping device provider.
The company, valued at more than $25billion, also owns the brands CCELL, FEELM, Revenant and Renova.
It is also manufactures vapes that are sold by many tobacco companies worldwide.
About 100,000 Americans have sickle cell disease.
It is caused by a genetic mutation that leads 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 sufferers, red blood cells start off with a normal, rounded, shape — but rapidly denature to a ‘sickle’ shape when they are exposed to low oxygen or stressful conditions.
It is for this reason that patients with the condition are advised not to smoke or vape, because the conditions this causes in the lungs raise the risk of sickle cells.
Acute chest syndrome is one of the leading causes of death in sufferers with sickle cell anemia.
People with the condition live to 43 years old on average in the US, nearly half the standard life expectancy in the US of 77 years.
Sickle cells are unable to carry oxygen and raise the risk of blood clots because their odd shape means they are more likely to get stuck in blood vessels.
DailyMail.com has contacted Vaporesso XROS for comment.
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