[Severe methemoglobinemia in a patient with pneumococcal sepsis].

Methemoglobinemia is a condition characterized by tissue hypoxia and normal oxygen partial pressure in the blood. The methemoglobin is created through the oxidation of the hemoglobin molecule in erythrocytes, changing Fe2+ to its ferric state Fe3+, causing it to lose its oxygen-carrying capacity. The condition can be drug-induced, caused by congenital enzyme deficiency or triggered through disease processes such as sepsis. In this case report, we describe an 80-year-old woman who developed severe methemoglobinemia in connection with a fatal pneumococcal sepsis.