Cyanosis

Central

You'll go this colour when you're cyanosed.

Definition

Going blue centrally (e.g in the tongue, the sternum or forehead)

Epidemiology

Differential Diagnosis

• Lung disease - COPD, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, acute pulmonary oedema; anything that can reduce O₂ uptake.
• Cyanotic congenital heart disease
• Some rare issue with haemoglobin

Clinical and Associated Features

Essentially, if they have some form of lung disease, you'll be able to tell. If they havea mental

Management

If it's lung disease - high flow O₂. If they do not respond to oxygen therapy, it reduces the likelihood of it being a lung cause.

If it's one of the other things, you probably need to something clever like major surgery (cyanotic heart disease) or blood transfusion (thalassaemia).

Peripheral

Can occur in central cyanosis but also occurs in the cold, hypovolaemia and arterial disease.