Blue Baby Syndrome

Blue baby syndrome or cyanosis is shown as blue or blue/grey skin on the face or body. This shows that the body is not getting enough oxygen in the blood. Patients may also have cold to the touch hands or feet as well as blue tinged lips.

Cyanosis is caused by several things, such as

• lungs - like asthma or pneumonia
  
• airway - choking, or croup
  
• heart
  
• seizures (fits) that last a long time

Babies who are born "blue" normally have a heart defect, commonly know as a "hole in the heart" which causes deoxygenated blood to mix with blood from the lungs meaning the blood that reaches the heart had less oxygen then normal. There are several heart defects which produce this syndrome. There are also some causes which are not related to heart conditions which can cause "blue" babies.

For more information about congenital heart diseases in babies and children, visit the Children's Heart Federation.

• HOW WE HELP PATIENTS
• The story behind the image
• From mountainside to bedside
• Learning from life at the limits
• Acute mountain sickness, HACE and HAPE
• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
• Blue Baby Syndrome
• Congenital heart disease
• Cystic fibrosis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Oxygen deficiency
• Sepsis/septic shock
• Information about ICU and support offered