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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Biochemical Measurement of Neonatal Hypoxia
Published on: August 24, 2011
Neonatal Cyanosis Due to Hemoglobin Variant: Hb F-Sarajevo
Jana Lozar-Krivec1, Maja Stepic, Tinka Hovnik
1*Department of Neonatology, Division of Paediatrics †Division of Paediatrics, Centre for Medical Genetics ‡Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Biochemistry, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Abstract:
Neonatal cyanosis is rarely due to hemoglobin variants with low oxygen affinity. We describe the clinical course and results of molecular genetic analysis of a boy who presented after birth with severe cyanosis. Arterial blood-gas analysis demonstrated a pronounced shift of the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve to the right and molecular genetic analysis revealed a γ-globin variant, Hb F-Sarajevo. The patient presented is the second reported case of neonatal cyanosis due to this mutation, which was first described in 2012 by Zimmermann-Baer and coauthors. With the introduction of universal screening for congenital heart disease, the finding of low oxygen saturation will uncover more neonates with hemoglobinopathies with low oxygen affinity.
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