A 33-year-old man has developed a strange condition after being infected with Covid-19. When he stood up, his legs turned blue within minutes!
A doctor at the University of Leeds was faced with an unusual symptom of Covid pneumonia. His patient, a 33-year-old man, could not stand for more than 10 minutes at the risk of feeling a heavy, tingling, and itchy sensation in his legs. Even worse, as the minutes passed, they turned a strange bluish color. When he sat down again, his legs returned to normal. The man has been suffering from this strange problem for six months. According to Dr. Manoj Sivan, who wrote the case report published in The Lancet, the symptoms are consistent with acrocyanosis, which is clearly triggered by Covid-19.
Legs turn blue in a long Covid
Acrocyanosis is a disease of the blood vessels that causes discoloration of the skin – which then appears blue – on the extremities due to poor oxygenation of the tissues. In this patient, acrocyanosis is combined with another cardiovascular problem: postural tachycardia syndrome (or POTS). People with POTS have an increased heart rate of about 30 beats per minute when standing up, due to a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (dysautonomia). Postural tachycardia syndrome is thought to be quite common in long-term patients.
Read also: Scientists Confirm Inhaled Vaccines More Effective For COVID-19 Than Nasal Sprays
“This is a striking case of acrocyanosis in a patient who had not experienced it before Covid-19. Affected patients don’t realize that this could be a symptom of long-term covid and may feel worried about their condition. Similarly, doctors may not realize the link between acrocyanosis and long Covid,” explains Manoj Sivan in a University of Leeds press release. POTS can be treated with medication and lifestyle changes.
References
Iftekhar, N., & Sivan, M. (2023). Venous insufficiency and acrocyanosis in long COVID: dysautonomia. The Lancet, 402(10401). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01461-7
FEEDBACK: