PERSPECTIVES
Neonatal jaundice: in the eye of the beholder?
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to Donal Manning, Department of Paediatrics, Wirral Hospital, Arrowe Park, Wirral CH49 5PE, UK; donal.manning@whnt.nhs.uk
Accepted 6 February 2009
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Perspective on the papers by Keren et al and Rennie et al (see pages 317 and 323)
In this month’s journal, two papers highlight the challenges facing clinicians in both visual and risk perception of neonatal jaundice. Keren et al1 question the accuracy and predictive value of visual assessment of jaundice. Rennie et al2 report wide variation in the content and quality of charts used to guide the treatment of jaundice in the UK. What are the implications of these findings?
Despite conflicting evidence concerning its reliability, clinicians have long relied on cephalocaudal progression3 to estimate the severity of neonatal jaundice. In one of the largest studies to date, Keren et al report poor correlation between visual assessment by experienced neonatal nurses and transcutaneous or laboratory bilirubin measurement. Correlation was poorer for non-white and near-term infants, two groups at greater than average risk for significant hyperbilirubinaemia. Riskin et al4
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
Relevant Articles
- Fantoms
- Ben Stenson
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2009 94: F313.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- Range of UK practice regarding thresholds for phototherapy and exchange transfusion in neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia
- J M Rennie, A Sehgal, A De, G S Kendall, and T J Cole
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2009 94: F323-F327.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- Visual assessment of jaundice in term and late preterm infants
- R Keren, K Tremont, X Luan, and A Cnaan
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2009 94: F317-F322.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in ADC Online
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
-
Metabolic disorders
-
Bilirubin disorders
-
Child health
-
Neonatal health
-
Infant health
- Relevant Articles
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
