The key difference between peripheral and central cyanosis is that in peripheral cyanosis, the bluish discolouration is localized, and the area affected is cold, while in central cyanosis, the bluish discolouration is generalized, and the area affected is warm.
Cyanosis refers to a bluish-purple hue that occurs on the skin. It normally affects areas where the skin is thin, such as lips, mouth, earlobes, and fingernails. Cyanosis is due to decreased oxygen attached to red blood cells in the bloodstream. Peripheral and central cyanosis are two types of cyanosis. Peripheral cyanosis mainly occurs due to diminished peripheral blood flow, while central cyanosis mainly occurs due to decreased arterial oxygen saturation.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Peripheral Cyanosis
3. What is Central Cyanosis
4. Similarities – Peripheral and Central Cyanosis
5. Peripheral vs Central Cyanosis in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Peripheral vs Central Cyanosis
What is Peripheral Cyanosis?
Peripheral cyanosis is a condition that causes bluish discolouration, specifically noticed around the mucous membranes of fingers, toes, and skin surrounding the lips. Peripheral cyanosis happens when hands, fingertips, or feet turn blue due to not getting enough oxygen-rich blood. This condition affects the extremities of the body. The symptoms of this condition may include the skin on fingertips, toes, palms, or feet appearing bluish and greenish and cold in the affected area. However, the colour returns to normal after the area warms up. The common causes of peripheral cyanosis may include Raynaud’s disease, low blood pressure, hypothermia, problems with arteries, heart failure, deep vein thrombosis, and hypovolemic shock.
Figure 01: Peripheral Cyanosis
Peripheral cyanosis can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood work, and imaging scans such as X-rays. Furthermore, the treatments for peripheral cyanosis mainly include treating the underlying cause of the problem. Doctors may also prescribe medications to treat the heart and lungs. Some people may need oxygen therapy to restore healthy oxygen levels in the body. In addition, doctors may recommend stopping any treatments that restrict blood flow, such as beta-blockers, birth control pills, and certain allergy medications. Lifestyle changes like quitting smoking and cutting caffeine may also be helpful in getting rid of peripheral cyanosis.
What is Central Cyanosis?
Central cyanosis affects the core organs of the body. It causes a blue to green tint on lips, tongue, or on both. In this type of cyanosis, the symptoms do not get better when the body part is heated up. This is a kind of cyanosis normally seen in people suffering from heart or lung diseases and certain abnormal medical conditions like methemoglobinemia and sulfhemoglobinemia. Other causes include birth injury or asphyxia, transient tachypnoea, pneumothorax, lung edema, lung thromboembolism, chronic obstructive lung disease, etc.
The symptoms of central cyanosis include bluish discolouration on the tongue and lips, chest pain, rapid breathing, difficulty breathing, squatting, fever, irritability, fussiness, poor feeding, poor sleeping in infants and young children, lethargy, and frequent headaches. Central cyanosis can be diagnosed through physical examination and imaging scannings like X-ray and ECG. Furthermore, the treatments for this condition may include surgery, oxygenation, drugs such as diuretics and antibiotics, immunization, and injecting appropriate medicines in newborns (prostaglandins injection).
What are the Similarities Between Peripheral and Central Cyanosis?
- Peripheral and central cyanosis are two types of cyanosis.
- Both conditions are due to decreased levels of oxygen.
- In both conditions, bluish discoloration occurs on the skin.
- Both conditions can be diagnosed through physical examination.
- They can be normally treated through oxygenation.
What is the Difference Between Peripheral and Central Cyanosis?
In peripheral cyanosis, the bluish discolouration is localized, and the area affected is cold, while in central cyanosis, the bluish discolouration is generalized, and the area affected is warm. Thus, this is the key difference between peripheral and central cyanosis. Furthermore, peripheral cyanosis usually occurs in the extremities of the body, while central cyanosis occurs in the core organs of the body.
The below infographic presents the differences between peripheral and central cyanosis in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Peripheral vs Central Cyanosis
Cyanosis refers to a bluish-purple hue occurring in the skin due to decreased oxygen levels in the blood. Peripheral and central cyanosis are two types of cyanosis. In peripheral cyanosis, the bluish discolouration is localized, and the area affected is cold, while in central cyanosis, the bluish discolouration is generalized, and the area affected is warm. Upon application of warmth, the bluish discolouration disappears in peripheral cyanosis, while it does not disappear in central cyanosis. So, this summarizes the difference between peripheral and central cyanosis.
Reference:
1. “Peripheral Cyanosis: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International.
2. “Central Cyanosis – Causes, Symptoms & Treatment.” Apollo Hospitals.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Peripheral Cyanosis due to Ischemia” By James Heilman, MD – File:Ischemia.JPG (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia