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What is heliotrope cyanosis?

Updated: 4/28/2022
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14y ago

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Cyanosis is the discoloration of the skin due to lack of oxygen.

When the blood oxygen levels fall the circulatory system constructs vessels going to the skin so that more blood is routed to internal organs. Less blood at the skin surface means that less red light is scattered back and the blue light becomes more prominent.

This can be caused by choking on something, or fluid in the lungs (pneumonia)

Heliotrope cyanosis is a term coined during the flu pandemic of 1918. A victim would get the flu, and get a secondary infection. His lungs would fill with fluid, preventing him from breathing, and his face would turn blue as he died drowning in his own fluids. The color of the people's faces was so striking they called it "heliotrope cyanosis"

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14y ago
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Q: What is heliotrope cyanosis?
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