Hypercalcemia in a male-to-female transgender patient after body contouring injections: a case report


IntroductionBody contouring injections by non-licensed providers are frequently sought out by a subset of the male-to-female transgender community. Although short-term side effects such as pulmonary embolism and injection site infection are well known, long-term consequences of such practices are less well studied.Case presentationHere we describe the case of a 40-year-old African American male-to-female transgender patient who presented to our institution with hypercalcemia and acute renal failure secondary to body contouring injections with industrial strength silicone by non-licensed providers, a decade prior to her visit.

Work-up revealed an extensive granulomatous inflammatory process in the injection area resulting in electrolyte abnormalities and kidney injury. The patient’s lab results and symptoms responded well to long-term corticosteroid treatment and correlated with treatment adherence.

Conclusion:
Affected patients can sometimes present with unusual clinical symptoms many years after silicone injections.

In a constantly growing transgender community that often utilizes non-licensed providers for silicone injections, the medical community will likely face an increasing number of patients with long-term side effects of such practices. Therefore, it is imperative for physicians to recognize such cases promptly and initiate potentially life-saving treatment.

Author: Koppany VisnyeiMaria SamuelLaura HeacockJose A Cortes
Credits/Source: Journal of Medical Case Reports 2014, 8:71

Published on: 2014-02-26

Tweet

News Provider: EUPB – European Press Bureau

Social Bookmarking
RETWEET This! | Digg this! | Post to del.icio.us | Post to Furl | Add to Netscape | Add to Yahoo! | Rojo

There are no comments available. Be the first to write a comment.