Blue-green inclusions are seen in patients with extensive hypoxic tissue damage. The exact composition of these inclusions is still unknown but hypotheses include a combination of lipids, bilirubin and/or lipofuscin. There appears to be a high correlation between these inclusions and extensive liver damage (highly elevated ALT), but they are now also described in other disease states with tissue damage that do not primarily involve the liver.

Colloquially, these inclusions are also called "crystals of death," but it should be emphasized that their presence has no stand-alone prognostic value.