Experts Differ Over Bilirubin Testing for Babies

Oct. 3, 2009— -- A new study has shown that universal screening for bilirubin reduced the number of infants who developed severe jaundice, a condition that can lead to seizures and brain damage.

But expert opinion and official treatment guidelines from different organizations are still divided on whether all babies should routinely be tested for the condition.

Infants born at hospitals with universal bilirubin screening had a 62 percent lower incidence of total serum bilirubin (TSB) levels that exceeded limits set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) than babies born at facilities without universal screening, according to a report in the Sept. 28 issue of Pediatrics.

Babies born at hospitals with routine screening, using a TSB blood test or transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) skin test, also received twice as much inpatient phototherapy and had slightly longer hospitalizations after birth than other babies.

Bilirubin is a chemical produced when the liver breaks down old red blood cells. It's often elevated in newborn infants.

In rare cases, high levels of bilirubin can cause brain damage (kernicterus), hearing loss, eye muscle problems, physical abnormalities and even death. The incidence of kernicterus ranges from 0.4 to 2.9 per 100,000 live births, according to previous research.

A common treatment for high bilirubin is phototherapy: infants are exposed to bright lights, which trigger processes that change bilirubin into other products that can be passed through their systems.

"Universal bilirubin screening, with either TcB or TSB measurements, was associated with increased identification of newborns needing phototherapy and a significantly lower incidence of severe hyperbilirubinemia," Dr. Michael Kuzniewicz of the University of California San Francisco Children's Hospital, and colleagues wrote.

"There also was a substantial increase in the use of phototherapy, often at bilirubin levels lower than those recommended by the AAP."

The paper by Kuzniewicz and colleagues was one of six articles on bilirubin and hyperbilirubinemia (high levels of bilirubin in the blood) in the September 28 issue of Pediatrics.