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Cyanosis is the change of body tissue color to a bluish-purple hue, as a result of decrease in the amount of oxygen bound to the hemoglobin in the red blood cells of the capillary bed. [1] Cyanosis is apparent usually in the body tissues covered with thin skin , including the mucous membranes , lips, nail beds , and ear lobes. [ 1 ]
Methemoglobinemia, or methaemoglobinaemia, is a condition of elevated methemoglobin in the blood. [2] Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, nausea, poor muscle coordination, and blue-colored skin (cyanosis). [2]
In addition to the redistribution of blood in the body, most cases of dyspnea are accompanied by an increase in the overall work of breathing, often caused by abnormal pulmonary mechanisms. [5] The perception of dyspnea is theorized to be a complicated connection between peripheral receptors, neural pathways, and the central nervous system.
The precise mechanism of acrocyanosis is not known. [6] The current line of thinking goes that vasospasms in the cutaneous arteries and arterioles produce cyanotic discoloration, while compensatory dilatation in the postcapillary venules causes sweating. Arteriovenous subpapillary plexus shunting also occurs.
Blue baby syndrome can refer to conditions that cause cyanosis, or blueness of the skin, in babies as a result of low oxygen levels in the blood. This term has traditionally been applied to cyanosis as a result of:. [1] Cyanotic heart disease, which is a category of congenital heart defect that results in low levels of oxygen in the blood. [2]
Traumatic asphyxia is characterized by cyanosis in the upper extremities, neck, and head as well as petechiae in the conjunctiva. Patients can also display jugular venous distention and facial edema. [3] Associated injuries include pulmonary contusion, myocardial contusion, hemo/pneumothorax, and broken ribs. [4] [5]
This definition would include oxygen carried by hemoglobin. The oxygen content of blood is thus sometimes viewed as a measure of tissue delivery rather than hypoxemia. [7] Just as extreme hypoxia can be called anoxia, extreme hypoxemia can be called anoxemia.
Hemoglobinopathy is the medical term for a group of inherited blood disorders involving the hemoglobin, the protein of red blood cells. [1] They are generally single-gene disorders and, in most cases, they are inherited as autosomal recessive traits.