what is a blue baby?

Infact its a syndrome. That means it consists of a group of disorders. The term blue baby is a colloquial name, fast becoming obsolete, for an infant suffering from congenital cyanotic heart disease, the commonest forms of which are tetralogy of Fallot and transposition of the great vessels, in which the circulation is misdirected. Both of these conditions result in the presence of partially deoxygenated blood (which is blue in colour) in the peripheral circulation, which gives the skin and lips a characteristic purple colour. Surgical correction is often possible at an early stage. If untreated, infants may survive months or years with persistent cyanosis. On November 29, 1944, the Johns Hopkins Hospital was the first to successfully perform an operation to relieve this syndrome. [4] The syndrome was brought to the attention of surgeon Alfred Blalock and his laboratory assistant Vivien Thomas in 1943 by pediatric cardiologist Helen Taussig, who had treated hundreds of children with Tetralogy of Fallotin her work at Hopkins' Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children. The two men adapted a surgical procedure they had earlier developed for another purpose, involving the anastomosis, or joining, of the subclavian arteryto the pulmonary artery, which allowed the blood another chance to become oxygenated. The procedure became known as the Blalock-Taussig shunt, although in recent years the contribution of Vivien Thomas, both experimentally and clinically, has been widely acknowledged.

Hi, my name is Johanna, i was born on Januari 1944 in Amsterdam Holland, i was born a blue baby and not expected to live,i had emergancy Babtism and i was born at home, i was told that the doctor kept smacking my bottom for many hours to get the blood circulating until my tongue started to slowly turn a pink colour, well as you can see i did live, i am now 66 years of age and have 3 leaking heart valves, i need surgery the doctors keep asking me if i ever had reumatic fever i never did, could this be the result of me being a blue baby, i would like to know....

Infact its a syndrome. That means it consists of a group of disorders. The term blue baby is a colloquial name, fast becoming obsolete, for an infant suffering from congenital cyanotic heart disease, the commonest forms of which are tetralogy of Fallot and transposition of the great vessels, in which the circulation is misdirected. Both of these conditions result in the presence of partially deoxygenated blood (which is blue in colour) in the peripheral circulation, which gives the skin and lips a characteristic purple colour. Surgical correction is often possible at an early stage. If untreated, infants may survive months or years with persistent cyanosis. On November 29, 1944, the Johns Hopkins Hospital was the first to successfully perform an operation to relieve this syndrome. [4] The syndrome was brought to the attention of surgeon Alfred Blalock and his laboratory assistant Vivien Thomas in 1943 by pediatric cardiologist Helen Taussig, who had treated hundreds of children with Tetralogy of Fallotin her work at Hopkins' Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children. The two men adapted a surgical procedure they had earlier developed for another purpose, involving the anastomosis, or joining, of the subclavian arteryto the pulmonary artery, which allowed the blood another chance to become oxygenated. The procedure became known as the Blalock-Taussig shunt, although in recent years the contribution of Vivien Thomas, both experimentally and clinically, has been widely acknowledged.