The blood drawn from a baby who was only 40 days old was shockingly milky white.
On August 5, 2010, at the Third Neonatal Department of Hunan Children's Hospital, the blood drawn from a baby who was only 40 days old appeared milky white.
This baby, who looked no different from a normal child, was diagnosed by doctors as suffering from hyperlipidemia, a very rare condition with no related literature reports found domestically. The baby was born prematurely in Yunnan and showed no abnormalities during a check-up at 7 days old. However, at 20 days old, she was admitted to a county-level hospital due to vomiting, where it was discovered that her blood lipid and hemoglobin levels were elevated. She was transferred to Hunan Children's Hospital on July 27. Upon admission, her liver and spleen size and liver function were normal, but when the nurse drew her blood, a strange phenomenon was observed: the color of the blood was lighter than normal blood, and after being left undisturbed for a few minutes, it gradually turned milky white. Even a professor in his 70s expressed surprise, calling it the first time he had ever seen such a strange phenomenon in his career.
In the ten days since admission, signs of an enlarged liver and spleen, lung infection, anemia, and retinal lesions have been detected in the baby. At seven days old, the baby had checked out normal, but the symptoms developed later. This might be because before birth, the infant relied on the mother’s metabolism, and after being separated from the mother, the symptoms of metabolic dysfunction began to appear gradually, which could significantly impact organ function. Hyperlipidemia is caused by abnormal lipoprotein metabolism or lipid deposition disease, which is a congenital hereditary metabolic disorder. The specific cause requires further investigation through relevant tests. Due to the rarity of this case, both diagnosis and treatment are extremely challenging. Currently, mainly symptomatic treatment is being administered, and complete cure may be difficult.