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Prolonged hyperbilirubinemia (severe jaundice) can result in chronic bilirubin encephalopathy (kernicterus). [5] [6] Quick and accurate treatment of neonatal jaundice helps to reduce the risk of neonates developing kernicterus. [7] Infants with kernicterus may have a fever [8] or seizures. [9] High pitched crying is an effect of kernicterus.
Infant undergoing bili light therapy in a United States maternity ward. A bili light [1] [2] is a light therapy tool to treat newborn jaundice (hyperbilirubinemia).High levels of bilirubin can cause brain damage (kernicterus), leading to cerebral palsy, auditory neuropathy, gaze abnormalities and dental enamel hypoplasia.
Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. [3] [6] Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme metabolism, liver dysfunction, or biliary-tract obstruction. [7]
If neonatal cholestasis is suspected or an infant is presenting with jaundice after two weeks of life, total and conjugated bilirubin must be measured. [10] Neonatal cholestasis is present if conjugated bilirubin value is >20% of total serum bilirubin or if serum conjugated bilirubin concentration is greater than 1.0 mg/dL. [2]
Unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia in a newborn can lead to accumulation of bilirubin in certain brain regions (particularly the basal nuclei) with consequent irreversible damage to these areas manifesting as various neurological deficits, seizures, abnormal reflexes and eye movements. This type of neurological injury is known as kernicterus.
Crigler–Najjar syndrome is a rare inherited disorder affecting the metabolism of bilirubin, a chemical formed from the breakdown of the heme in red blood cells. The disorder results in a form of nonhemolytic jaundice, which results in high levels of unconjugated bilirubin and often leads to brain damage in infants.
Gilbert syndrome is a phenotypic effect, mostly associated with increased blood bilirubin levels, but also sometimes characterized by mild jaundice due to increased unconjugated bilirubin, that arises from several different genotypic variants of the gene for the enzyme responsible for changing bilirubin to the conjugated form.
A newborn infant undergoing white-light phototherapy to treat neonatal jaundice Light therapy is used to treat cases of neonatal jaundice . [ 44 ] Bilirubin , a yellow pigment normally formed in the liver during the breakdown of old red blood cells, cannot always be effectively cleared by a neonate's liver causing neonatal jaundice.