A case of carotenosis caused by long term excessive intake of vegetable juice

Abstract

A 47-year-old man noticed progressively increasing yellowish-orange pigmentation of the palms and soles since 2012. He had no appreciable disease in his past history or family history. At the initial visit, the physical examination also revealed yellow-orange discoloration of his face including upper and lower eyelids. The bulbar conjunctivae were not yellow and he had no hepatic dysfunction. He began to drink vegetable juice in 2010, and has been drinking it more than 900 ml daily since 2011. We considered this case as carotenosis caused by excessive intake of large amount of carotene containing juice due to the history. Although carotenosis is usually revealed yellow discoloration of the skin most commonly seen on the palms and soles, it can also appears on the face that has amount of subcutaneous tissue. Carotenaemia usually has yellow skin without of any other systemic symptoms, but it is known to be accompanied by medical disorders such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, renal dysfunction and anorexia nervosa and we should pay attention to them.