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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]
Preterm infants are often anemic and typically experience heavy blood losses from frequent laboratory testing in the first few weeks of life. [4] Although their anemia is multifactorial, repeated blood sampling and reduced erythropoiesis with extremely low serum levels of erythropoietin (EPO) are major causative factors.
At birth, hemoglobin F accounts for 50-95% of the infant's hemoglobin and at around 6 months after birth, hemoglobin A becomes the predominant type. By the time the baby is one year old, the proportions of different types of hemoglobin are expected to approximate the adult levels, with hemoglobin F reduced to very low levels. [4]
Inhibition of coagulation and resultant internal bleeding can cause too few red blood cells to be present in the bloodstream and low blood pressure in newborns with fetal warfarin syndrome. [5] Low hemoglobin levels can lead to partial oxygen starvation, a high level of lactic acid in the bloodstream, and acidosis.
There are also emerging tests using Cell-free DNA. Blood is taken from the mother, and using PCR, can detect fetal DNA. [9] This blood test is non-invasive to the fetus and can help determine the risk of HDFN. Testing has proven very accurate and is routinely done in the UK at the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory in Bristol. [10]
Anemia is a condition in which blood has a lower-than-normal amount of red blood cells or hemoglobin. [1] Anemia in pregnancy is a decrease in the total red blood cells (RBCs) or hemoglobin in the blood during pregnancy. Anemia is an extremely common condition in pregnancy world-wide, conferring a number of health risks to mother and child. [2]
[citation needed] Diagnosis is usually made by investigation of a newborn baby who has developed jaundice during the first week of life. Testing. Coombs - after birth, the newborn will have a direct Coombs test run to confirm antibodies attached to the infant's red blood cells. This test is run from cord blood. [5]
Hemolytic disease of the newborn, also known as hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn, HDN, HDFN, or erythroblastosis fetalis, [1] [2] is an alloimmune condition that develops in a fetus at or around birth, when the IgG molecules (one of the five main types of antibodies) produced by the mother pass through the placenta.