Icterus neonatorum, or neonatal jaundice, is defined as a total serum bilirubin level above 5mg/dl. Acute bilirubin encephalopathy and kernicterus are known to be the two major complications associated with it, resulting in neurotoxic effects, including sensorineural hearing loss, hypotonia, delayed motor skills and intellectual deficits. We report two similar cases of neonatal jaundice requiri...

We present an unusual case of hyperbilirubinemia with rapid early progression leading to bilirubin encephalopathy in a term neonate. Despite early recognition and intervention, the total serum bilirubin reached a maximum level of 39 mg/dL at 32 hours of life. Prior to an emergent exchange transfusion, the patient's diagnostic evaluation was significant for Coombs-negative microangiopathic hemol...

BACKGROUND The serum or plasma total bilirubin concentration (B(T)) has long been the standard clinical laboratory test for evaluating neonatal jaundice, despite studies showing that B(T) correlates poorly with acute bilirubin encephalopathy (ABE) and its sequelae including death, classical kernicterus, or bilirubin-induced neurological dysfunction (BIND). The poor correlation between B(T) and ...

OBJECTIVES To determine the incidence of severe hyperbilirubinaemia in the newborn, and to identify associated clinical and demographic variables, and short-term outcomes. DESIGN Prospective, population-based study. SETTING UK and Republic of Ireland, between 1 May 2003 and 31 May 2005. PARTICIPANTS Infants in the first month of life with severe hyperbilirubinaemia (maximum unconjugated s...

impression that kernicterus has virtually " become extinct " with the near elimination of Rh disease is incorrect. In fact, this neurological condition is experiencing a re-emergence, likely due to earlier hospital discharge and a " more lax " approach to the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. 1 Up to one in 700 healthy term newborns may be at risk of kernicterus due to severe hyperbilir...

OBJECTIVE Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (B-RTO) has recently been introduced as a new interventional modality to prevent fatal bleeding from solitary gastric varices. A large portal-systemic shunt including gastric varices also causes severe encephalopathy in some cirrhotic patients. In this study, we evaluated the effect of B-RTO as a candidate therapeutic method to trea...