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 suffered from vaso-occlusion – or when red blood cells block the blood vessels in the lungs – and ‘acute chest syndrome’ – a potentially life-threatening complication in which patients have difficulty breathing.
The woman was a patient with sickle cell anemia, a genetic condition that puts patients’ red blood cells at risk of turning into a sickle shape under stressful conditions.
Nicotine in vapes causes blood vessels to constrict, putting pressure on them and increasing the risk of sickle cell formation.
The woman had smoked the vape with her friend before the pain started. At the hospital, she gave the device to the doctors and said she did not want to use it again.
The woman needed a blood transfusion after using a vape. She suffers from sickle cell disease, and people with this genetic condition are advised to avoid vapes
The woman in India had used a Vaporesso XROS vape device. 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 matter came to light 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 (vaping) may cause complications of sickle cell disease, especially with asthma as a comorbidity.’
On 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 thin the sickle cells in the blood and thus help relieve blood clots. In previous cases, it has also helped relieve pain by moving blood clots.
She was also given oxygen and intravenous painkillers in the hospital.
Doctors gradually reduced the amount of medication, but on day four of her hospitalization, she became stressed after witnessing another patient being resuscitated.
This prompted doctors to increase her dose of pain medication before lowering it again as her condition improved.
She stayed in the hospital for seven days and experienced no long-term effects from vaping.
The woman was described as giving doctors the vape, which she took from her bag, and saying she didn’t want to use the device anymore.
Vaporesso is a vape band launched in 2015 by Shenzhen-based Smoore Technology – which claims to be the largest global supplier of vaping devices.
The company, which is valued at more than $25 billion, also owns the CCELL, FEELM, Revenant and Renova brands.
It also produces vapors sold by many tobacco companies around the world.
About 100,000 Americans have sickle cell disease.
It is caused by a genetic mutation that causes patients to have abnormal hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that allows them to transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
In affected patients, the red blood cells initially have a normal, round shape, but quickly denature into a ‘sickle shape’ when exposed to low oxygen or stressful conditions.
It is for this reason that patients with the condition are advised not to smoke or vape, as the conditions this causes in the lungs increase the risk of sickle cells.
Acute chest syndrome is one of the leading causes of death in patients with sickle cell anemia.
People with the condition live an average of 43 years in the US, almost half the standard US life expectancy of 77 years.
Sickle cells are unable to transport oxygen and increase the risk of blood clots because their strange shape makes them more likely to get stuck in blood vessels.
DailyMail.com has contacted Vaporesso XROS for comment.