Surveillance of severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia: a view from south of the border.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Jeffrey Maisels.
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OBJECTIVE: To obtain transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) measurements, at 6-hour intervals, in the first 96 hours after birth in a normal newborn population (gestational age: > or =35 weeks). METHODS: We performed 9397 TcB measurements on 3984 healthy newborn infants (gestational age: > or =35 weeks) from 6 to 96 hours of age. All measurements were performed in the well-infant nursery with a Draeger Air-Shields transcutaneous jaundice meter (model JM-103), within 2 hours of the designated time. RESULTS: There was a distinct pattern to the velocity of the increase in TcB levels over different time periods. TcB levels increased in a linear manner most rapidly in the first 6 to 18 hours and then less rapidly from 18 to 42 hours, followed by a much slower increase until peak levels occurred. Decreasing gestational age was associated significantly with higher TcB levels. CONCLUSIONS: We provide data on neonatal bilirubinemia, based on TcB levels determined in a large, predominately white and breastfed, North American population. Infants who require closer evaluation and observation initially are those whose bilirubin levels are > or =95th percentile, ie, increasing more rapidly than 0.22 mg/dL per hour in the first 24 hours, 0.15 mg/dL per hour between 24 and 48 hours, and 0.06 mg/dL per hour after 48 hours. These data should be useful for detecting aberrant trends, identifying infants who need additional evaluation, and planning appropriate follow-up for jaundiced newborns.
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OBJECTIVE: Neonatal jaundice is the result of an imbalance between bilirubin production and elimination, and our objective was to clarify the contribution of an increase in bilirubin production to hyperbilirubinemia in newborns. METHODS: We measured the end-tidal carbon monoxide concentration corrected for ambient carbon monoxide concentration in 108 jaundiced newborns (total serum bilirubin level >75th percentile) and 164 control newborns in our well-infant nursery, for the first 4 days after birth. RESULTS: Mean end-tidal carbon monoxide levels decreased in the control infants in the first 4 days but increased in the hyperbilirubinemic group. The differences between the jaundiced and nonjaundiced infants were statistically significant on all days. CONCLUSIONS: Before hospital discharge, most infants with bilirubin levels >75th percentile are producing significantly more bilirubin than those with lower bilirubin levels. Because the ability of newborns to conjugate bilirubin is significantly impaired in the first few days, even a small increase in the rate of production can contribute to the development of hyperbilirubinemia. These data suggest that increased heme catabolism is an important mechanism responsible for hyperbilirubinemia in the first 4 days after birth.
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BACKGROUND: Congress passed the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act in 1996, reversing the trend of shorter newborn nursery lengths of stay. Hope existed that morbidities would lessen for this vulnerable population, but some reports indicate that the timeliness and quality of postdischarge care may have worsened in recent years. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to determine risk factors for the potentially preventable readmissions because of jaundice, dehydration, or feeding difficulties in the first 10 days of life in Pennsylvania since passage of the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Birth records from 407,826 newborns > or = 35 weeks' gestation from 1998 to 2002 were merged with clinical discharge records. A total of 2540 newborns rehospitalized for jaundice, dehydration, or feeding difficulties in the first 10 days of life were then compared with 5080 control infants. Predictors of readmission were identified by using multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: An unadjusted comparison of baseline characteristics revealed numerous predictors of readmission. Subsequent adjusted analysis revealed that Asian mothers, those 30 years of age or older, nonsmokers, and first-time mothers were more likely to have a readmitted newborn, as were those with diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension. For neonates, female gender and delivery via cesarean section were protective for readmission, whereas vacuum-assisted delivery, gestational age < 37 weeks, and nursery length of stay < 72 hours were predictors of readmission in the first 10 days of life. CONCLUSIONS: Although readmissions for jaundice, dehydration, and feeding difficulties may be less common for some minority groups and Medicaid recipients in the era of the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act compared with nonminorities or privately insured patients, several predictors of newborn readmission have established associations with inexperienced parenting and/or breastfeeding difficulty. This is one indication that this well-intentioned legislation and current practice may not be sufficiently protecting the health of newborns and suggests that additional support for mothers and newborns during the vulnerable postdelivery period may be indicated.
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In July 2003, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) organized a consensus conference, where a group of experts were invited to review and discuss the current state of knowledge regarding neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and identify areas in which where future research should be directed. This paper summarizes the presentations addressing the current methodologies for direct and noninvasive assessments of serum total bilirubin concentrations as well as prevention and treatment strategies for the management of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.
Kernicterus, thought to be due to severe hyperbilirubinemia, is an uncommon disorder with tragic consequences, especially when it affects healthy term and near-term infants. Early identification, prevention and treatment of severe hyperbilirubinemia should make kernicterus a preventable disease. However, national epidemiologic data are needed to monitor any preventive strategies. Recommendations are provided to obtain prospective data on the prevalence and incidence of severe hyperbilirubinemia and associate mortality and neurologic injury using standardized definitions, explore the clinical characteristics and root causes of kernicterus in children identified in the Kernicterus Pilot Registry, identify and test an indicator for population surveillance, validating systems-based approaches to the management of newborn jaundice, and explore the feasibility of using biologic or genetic markers to identify infants at risk for hyperbilirubinemia. Increased knowledge about the incidence and consequences of severe hyperbilirubinemia is essential to the planning, implementation and assessment of interventions to ensure that infants discharged as healthy from their birth hospitals have a safer transition to home, avoiding morbidity due to hyperbilirubinemia and other disorders. At a recent NIHCD-sponsored conference, key questions were raised about kernicterus and the need for additional strategies for its prevention. These questions and an approach to their answers form the basis of this report.
This paper reviews barriers to the prevention of kernicterus. Reports of kernicterus cases persist. We do not know why kernicterus continues to occur or how best to prevent it. We need evidence for key recommendations that make clinical guidelines usable by practitioners caring for newborns, especially for practitioners providing ambulatory care in the first week of life. Data on prevalence and incidence, mortality and morbidity are essential for launching a kernicterus public health campaign. Modeling cost-effectiveness requires data on costs and benefits of alternative strategies for managing hyperbilirubinemia and preventing kernicterus and on parental preferences concerning follow-up in the first days of life. Understanding how existing patterns of care obstruct preventive care involves exploration of the roles of clinicians, health-care organizations, parents, and payers and purchasers of health care. Lastly, discovering how to motivate change in existing practices can provide the guidance needed to prevent kernicterus in the US.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the Minolta/Hill-Rom Air-Shields Transcutaneous Jaundice Meter model JM-103. METHODS: We studied a convenience sample of 849 newborns > or =35 weeks of gestation in 3 hospitals. These infants had total serum bilirubin (TSB) levels measured on clinical indication, and transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) levels were obtained within 1 hour of the TSB levels. The population was 59.2% white, 29.8% black, 4.5% East Asian, 3.8% Middle Eastern, 1.6% Indian/Pakistani, and 1.1% Hispanic. RESULTS: There was a close correlation between TSB and TcB values in all of the population groups: white (n = 503, r =.949); black (n = 253, r =.822); and East Asian, Indian/Pakistani, and Hispanic (n = 93, r =.926). In the black population, the correlation was less close than in the other groups, and differences between the TcB and TSB measurements tended to increase with rising TSB values. JM-103 values differed from TSB values by 3 mg/dL or more in 2% of white, 3.2% of other, and 17.4% of black infants. In these black infants, the JM-103 value was always greater than the TSB value. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that TcB measurements using the JM-103 jaundice meter correlate very closely with TSB levels over the range of TSB encountered in this study. Because only 3.3% of our infants had TSB values >15 mg/dL (257 micro mol/L), more data are needed in this range of TSB concentration. The correlation in black infants is not as close as in other groups, but because the tendency in blacks is for the JM-103 to overestimate serum bilirubin levels, dangerous clinical errors are unlikely to occur. The measurement technique is rapid and simple, and it is easy to perform repeated measurements over time, thus reducing the likelihood of error. TcB measurements with the JM-103 jaundice meter should obviate the need for most serum bilirubin levels in newborn infants > or =35 weeks of gestation, although serum bilirubin measurements are still required when treatment with phototherapy or exchange transfusion is being considered.
This article is adapted from a published evidence report concerning neonatal hyperbilirubinemia with an added section on the risk of blood exchange transfusion (BET). Based on a summary of multiple case reports that spanned more than 30 years, we conclude that kernicterus, although infrequent, has at least 10% mortality and at least 70% long-term morbidity. It is evident that the preponderance of kernicterus cases occurred in infants with a bilirubin level higher than 20 mg/dL. Given the diversity of conclusions on the relationship between peak bilirubin levels and behavioral and neurodevelopmental outcomes, it is apparent that the use of a single total serum bilirubin level to predict long-term outcomes is inadequate and will lead to conflicting results. Evidence for efficacy of treatments for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia was limited. Overall, the 4 qualifying studies showed that phototherapy had an absolute risk-reduction rate of 10% to 17% for prevention of serum bilirubin levels higher than 20 mg/dL in healthy infants with jaundice. There is no evidence to suggest that phototherapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia has any long-term adverse neurodevelopmental effects. Transcutaneous measurements of bilirubin have a linear correlation to total serum bilirubin and may be useful as screening devices to detect clinically significant jaundice and decrease the need for serum bilirubin determinations. Based on our review of the risks associated with BETs from 15 studies consisting mainly of infants born before 1970, we conclude that the mortality within 6 hours of BET ranged from 3 per 1000 to 4 per 1000 exchanged infants who were term and without serious hemolytic diseases. Regardless of the definitions and rates of BET-associated morbidity and the various pre-exchange clinical states of the exchanged infants, in many cases the morbidity was minor (eg, postexchange anemia). Based on the results from the most recent study to report BET morbidity, the overall risk of permanent sequelae in 25 sick infants who survived BET was from 5% to 10%.
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BACKGROUND: Accreditors hold hospitals accountable for harm from serious newborn hyperbilirubinemia, yet standards for evaluating performance in prevention are lacking. OBJECTIVE: We confirmed prognostic variables for newborn hyperbilirubinemia and developed a benchmarking model for self-evaluation of hyperbilirubinemia management. METHODS: We conducted a 3-year prospective cohort study in the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) on 5507 healthy newborns of >or=35 weeks' gestational age. HFHS follows a rigorous protocol for hyperbilirubinemia management. Defining hyperbilirubinemia as age-specific levels of total serum bilirubin exceeding American Academy of Pediatrics criteria for considering phototherapy and severe hyperbilirubinemia as total serum bilirubin >or=20 mg/dL, we used logistic and Poisson regressions to determine predictors and estimate parameters for a benchmarking model. We compared incidence rates for severe hyperbilirubinemia from HFHS to aggregate data from 11 hospitals reported to have less rigorous management. RESULTS: Newborns were 52.9% black, 14.4% white, 24.3% Latino, and 2.4% Asian; 30% were exclusively and 28% partially breastfed. Regression analyses revealed associations for hyperbilirubinemia and severe hyperbilirubinemia with black mothers (negative) and exclusive or partial breastfeeding and younger gestational age (positive). Male newborns and older mothers were also associated with severe hyperbilirubinemia. For all 5 variables, we found a lower risk for severe hyperbilirubinemia at HFHS than in the comparison hospital group. To compare hospitals, we developed a benchmarking model for incidence of hyperbilirubinemia adjusting for race, feeding method, and gestational age. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals with access to newborns' inpatient and postdischarge data can use our benchmarking model to compare their management of hyperbilirubinemia with a reference population that received rigorous care.