ROLE OF INHERITED FACTORS IN NON-HEMOLYTIC HYPERBILIRUBINEMIA OF FULL-TERN NEWBORN INFANTS

Abstract

The relation between jaundice (seru> bilirubin ≥8 mg/dl) during the first 4 days of life and a number of perinatal variables was studied in 194 healthy full-term (gest. age ≥37 weeks) neuborn infants delivered consecutively at our institution between Jan. 7 and March 13, 1987. All infants were free from malformations and/or any other disease requiring treatment, they were ABO and Rh compatible with their mothers and were not G6PD deficient. The following variables were significantly (P<0.05) associated with a serui bilirubin level ≥8 ng/dl (136.8 μmol/l): male sex, high maternal age, low or too high gestational age, operative delivery, poor feeding, neonatal weight loss and high levels of alpha-fetoprotein in cord blood; an association was also found with a history of neonatal jaundice in a previous sibling born at ten. Type of delivery, poor feeding and weight loss were related to each other, so their association with jaundice is not independent. It was impossible to assess the role of breast-vs formula-feeding since nearly all babies (92%) were exclusively breast-fed. Alpha-fetoprotein was higher in males; it was also higher in infants with a previous jaundiced sibling, though this association disappeared after stratification for serum bilirubin levels <8 or ≥8 mg/dl.

These results suggest that in our population inherited factors nay play a major role in the genesis of non-henolytic neonatal jaundice in healthy full-term newborn infants. (Partially supported by a grant of the Sardinia Health Dept.).

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