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Capillary Refill/Circulation question

Our daughter is 2.5, and seems to have issues with her circulation. While we've been told it's rare, it certainly looks like she has Raynaud's Syndrome, as her hands and feet frequently are purple (they can get very dark), and she reacts instantly to cold. However, she also mottles frequently (daily basis, sometimes it lasts for a couple hours). The other day she was in fleece pants, fleece shirt, socks, the house was probably 65-70F, and her entire body (even her face a bit) was mottled. I checked her cap refill and it was 9 seconds on her feet, and 5-6 seconds on her sternum. Her body (trunk) was warm, but her hands and feet were cold, arms and legs cool. She's been having issues with circulation for 2 years now. She saw the ped about it almost a year ago and he didn't seem to really give it much though, just said: "Oh she has Raynaud's, and "Primary Vascular Phenomenon", she'll grow out of it." That was it. No testing, nothing.

Her history is VSD and ASD, both of which are now closed. Is this something that we should have looked into further, or is it really just something that's not a big deal and she'll grow out of it.
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Avatar universal
Thank you. I didn't think it was related to her heart, but also didn't know exactly what "vascular" falls under...
It doesn't seem to bother her, other than when she gets these spells she'll complain of being cold. When her hands get really bad, sometimes they hurt her and she'll cry.
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773637 tn?1327446915
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Dear MS Hanson,

First of all, these findings are not related to her cardiac history, which is good.  Second, of course without more information and without seeing her, I can't say exactly what's going on.  Raynaud's Phenomenon is classically associated with the skin turning white, then blue, then red.  From what you are describing, I'm not sure that's what I'm hearing.  It can occur by itself, or can occur in association with rheumatolgic diseases, like lupus and other autoimmune or collagen-vascular diseases.  The real question, though, is whether this is adversely affecting her.  I can't answer that, but if she's cool peripherally but otherwise active and not having problems, this may just be her.  I would make sure that she is adequately hydrated, however.  It also may be worthwhile having someone who knows was Raynaud's looks like to see her.
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