Woman's Old Tattoo Mistakenly Diagnosed as Cancer by Doctors
An interesting case recently reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine baffled the medical community. Instead of lymphoma, doctors of a 30-year-old patient found out that her enlarged nodes were caused by the tattoos she got 15 years ago.
According to IFLScience, Australian specialists were forced to change the diagnosis of the woman when they found out that the infection on her lymph nodes was not due to cancer; they formed because of the black tattoo pigments in her body.
The incident started when the patient had the small lumps under her arms checked in the hospital. Her doctors identified her symptoms as those of lymphoma, a type of cancer that causes the nodes to swell. After a full-body scan, it was discovered that she had additional enlarged nodes near her lungs.
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When one of the inflamed lymph nodes was examined using a microscope, the doctors were surprised to discover that the swelling was a reaction to old tattoo ink. The woman had two tattoos in her body, a 15-year-old one on her back and a recent one on her shoulder.
Based on the findings, her immune cells failed to properly ingest the black pigment due to the size of the particles. Years after, the ink traveled from her skin to her lymph nodes. The specialists are still unable to pinpoint what triggered the reaction.
Although getting a tattoo has become a recent trend, doctors have given warnings on its possible long-term effects. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautioned about the probability of an allergic reaction due to the ink's ingredients and contaminants. Meanwhile, a study published in Scientific Reports last September shows why people should proceed with caution before getting inked.
In their conclusion, the researchers said, "We report strong evidence for both migration and long-term deposition of toxic elements and tattoo pigments as well as for conformational alterations of biomolecules that likely contribute to cutaneous inflammation and other adversities upon tattooing."
