Neonatal Phototherapy with Filtered Sunlight

In a study of African neonates, this inexpensive therapy was as effective as conventional phototherapy.

The cost of conventional phototherapy makes it unavailable to many newborns with hyperbilirubinemia in developing countries. Researchers compared filtered sunlight phototherapy with conventional phototherapy in a randomized trial of 447 term and near-term infants with elevated serum bilirubin (defined cautiously as 3 mg/dL lower than levels recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics) in a Nigerian hospital. Exclusion criteria included critical illness, oxygen dependency, temperature dysregulation, severe jaundice, and need for exchange transfusion.

Filtered sunlight was achieved with one of two types of film canopies that allow passage of 39% to 84% of therapeutic blue light and filter out most ultraviolet A, B, and C light. Efficacy …

Reviewing Author

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics