A case of 'blue skin' and 'dark urine'

Med J Armed Forces India. 2018 Jul;74(3):300-303. doi: 10.1016/j.mjafi.2017.06.009. Epub 2017 Aug 18.

Abstract

A 60-year-old female presented with a 20-year history of progressive dark bluish discoloration of skin and passage of dark colored urine, painful arthritis and a recent history of invasive ductal carcinoma of right breast. Skin biopsy revealed hyaline material which was Periodic-Acid-Schiff stain positive and Congo-red stain negative, urine analysis revealed dark urine with presence reducing substance and radio-imaging showed intervertebral ossification and joint ankyloses. The patient was managed symptomatically with physiotherapy and acetaminophen on as required basis. This image is reported as a classic case of Alkaptonuria with clinical, histopathological and radio-imaging findings and the presence of invasive ductal breast carcinoma in the same patient.

Keywords: Alkaptonuria; Arthritis; Carcinoma breast; Ochronosis.