vivek anand
hello vascular diseases of the extremities have a large spectrum but i would like to tell you only the ones which should be suspected in a patient 1) who is an infant 2)BOTH hand and feet turn blue/purple and feeling cold right! see there are some disorders which affects the fibrous and muscular coating of the arteries of the extremities[ if you wish to know the name its called fibromuscular dysplasia] besides these there are some in which there is occlusion of the arteries following inflammation there is another which could be suspected here thats the thoracic outlet compression see but in this only hands are involved so we rule out this. now we come to what you wanted to know about the raynauds SEE BUT IN RAYNAUDS THE THE THING IS EPISODIC BUT IN THE MESSAGE YOU WRITE " ALL THE TIME". but still it could be a mistake while writing so i will tell you . see there is episodic constriction of the small arteries of the hands and feet which causes the blueness and coldness. BUT this is followed by rewarming and hand and feet appear as if they are normal. thes episodes can be precipitated by emotional stress like excessive clothing etc in a child, exposure to cold enviornment and touching cold objects. on rewarming the hands and toes become red as if filled with blood. its also associated with some blood diseases and other tissue disease like collagen disorders BUTraynauds associated with THESE THINGS is found in adults right! ... see if you ever want to feel like knowing more feel free to mail me at lonelycharles@rediffmail.com. see making a diagnosis for raynauds is easy. well other thing which could be possible is ACROCYANOSIS. this also occurs due to constriction of the small arteries BUT this differs from the raynauds in that this does not shows the rewarming phenomenon [as in raynauds] AND THE DISCOLORATION KEEPS ON INCREASING like initially in finger tips then you notice after a month the whole finger is involved. bye