Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

It's Not Easy Bein' Green

2009; Elsevier BV; Volume: 122; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.amjmed.2009.03.021

1555-7162

Christopher Huffman, Shawn Chillag, Lance Paulman, C. E. McMahon,

Methemoglobinemia and Tumor Lysis Syndrome

Color changes are often a physical diagnosis clue to an important diagnosis. Yellow, blue, red, black, and green are the usual color categorizations. A dramatic case of green discoloration is presented with a review of “green jaundice.” Kermit the Frog sings “It's not easy bein' green. It seems you blend in with so many ordinary things.” 1 Rapposo J. “It's Not Easy Bein' Green” (song lyrics). www.disgalaxy.addr.com/Muppets/kermit.htm Google Scholar This was certainly not true—this case certainly does not blend in with anything ordinary. Green Jaundice RevisitedThe American Journal of MedicineVol. 123Issue 9PreviewA recent article1 depicted greenish tissues of a patient who had died with obstructive jaundice and reviewed previous reports of “green jaundice.” The color was attributed to biliverdin formed by autoxidation of bilirubin.1 That explanation is chemically unlikely. Bilirubin is a rather stable pigment, particularly when deposited in tissues; witness the 2000-year-old bilirubin found in an Egyptian skeleton.2 In contrast, because of their reduced hydrogen bonding and greater conformational mobility, bilirubin conjugates are considerably more prone to free radical attack and autoxidation to the corresponding biliverdin conjugates. Full-Text PDF