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Management of Neonatal Hyperbilirubinaemia and Prevention of Kernicterus

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Summary

Hyperbilirubinaemia remains one of the most common and more important pathological conditions in the newborn. The possibility that the so-called physiological or developmental hyperbilirubinaemia, with relatively low levels of serum bilirubin, could be responsible for bilirubin encephalopathy in the small premature infant is of great concern to the neonatologist; premature newborns are prone to developing hyperbilirubinaemia.

Current methodologies for suppressing severe neonatal jaundice include: (a) attempts to stimulate liver conjugating enzymes using drugs such as phenobarbital; (b) attempts to degrade bilirubin with phototherapy; and (c) exchange transfusion.

It is too soon to consider tin-protoporphyrin as a drug for the prevention and treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia. However, if it can be shown that tin-protoporphyrin can serve as a safe and less costly alternate treatment, a considerable improvement in the management of neonatal jaundice would be achieved.

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  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128, Padova, Italy

    Firmino F. Rubaltelli & P. F. Griffith

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  1. Firmino F. Rubaltelli
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Rubaltelli, F.F., Griffith, P.F. Management of Neonatal Hyperbilirubinaemia and Prevention of Kernicterus. Drugs 43, 864–872 (1992). https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-199243060-00006

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