PSEUDOHYPOXAEMIA IN A PATIENT WITH ACUTE-LEUKEMIA

Patients with acute leukaemia may have spuriously low arterial oxygen tensions (PaO2), The markedly increased numbers of white blood cells i n these patients rapidly consume dissolved plasma oxygen resulting in dramatically decreased PaO2 and calculated oxygen saturations. The cas e history is reported of a patient with a white blood count of 191 000 /mm(3) in whom multiple arterial blood gas measurements documented hyp oxaemia out of proportion to the clinical picture. Pulse oximetry was used to confirm higher haemoglobin oxygen saturations and to establish the spuriously low plasma oxygen tensions in this patient.