A 30-year-old Australian woman found lumps under her arms, Doctors told her it was lymphoma, a cancer of lymph nodes that affect the immune system. However, later it was found that it was not cancer but old tattoo ink that did not get filtered out of her system. [Courtesy of Pixabay]
A 30-year-old woman went to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia because she found small lumps under her arms. When she had them checked out, she learned that they were lymphoma, a type of cancer of lymph nodes that affects the immune system. The typical symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, sweats, itching, and feeling tired constantly.
The body scan revealed that the woman had enlarged lymph nodes in her chest and at the roots of her lungs. However, "she had no fever, night sweats, weight loss, or pulmonary symptoms" according to the hospital report.
Dr. Christian Bryant, one of the of doctors who treated the woman, told CNN that when the body scan spots enlarged lymph nodes, "99 times out of 100 will be lymphoma."
After removing the swollen lymph node from her armpit, when the team of doctors examined it under a microscope, they were surprised to find that it was not cancer but black tattoo pigment from 15 years ago.
The woman was having a hypersensitive reaction to the tattoo ink. However, the medical experts were not sure why she is having a reaction now, not 15 years ago when she was inked.
The lymph system helps filtering blood but the tattoo pigment may have been too large to filter it out of the system.
There are many cases of skin reaction and inflammation after getting tattooed but having a reaction after so many years had passed in lymph nodes is very rare even for the medical experts.
After removing the pigment clots from the woman's body, the swelling went down.
Kwak, Min Jung = abiel@ajunews.com
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