Screening for Hyperbilirubinemia in Infants

The lack of evidence must be balanced by the risk for kernicterus.

Although kernicterus affects only about 1 in 100,000 infants in the U.S., the consequences can be catastrophic. In 2004, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that all newborns undergo predischarge bilirubin measurement or risk-factor assessment, but universal screening is not yet a national standard of care. Several articles in the October 2009 issue of Pediatrics address bilirubin screening.

In a retrospective cohort study, investigators compared the incidence of hyperbilirubinemia before and after implementation of universal bilirubin screening in newborns (gestational age, ≥35 weeks) in California. Between 1995 and 2007, 319,904 infants were born before and 38,182 were born after implementation of universal screening with either…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)