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Background and Aim: Prolonged jaundice (PJ) or hyperbilirubinemia usually persists beyond 14 days of age, with a prevalence of 15-40%. Effective control and decrease in the severity of jaundice can be achieved by recognition of the causes of PJ. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of PJ, its symptoms and predisposing factors in infants admitted to Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad.

Material and Methods: This descriptive study we selected 413 infants with PJ in Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad by using convenience sampling method. After taking medical history and physical examination, necessary Labratory workups were performed. Using SPSS version 13.5, data analysis was performed by using mean and standard deviation.

Results: The mean age of the study population was 19.5±4.7 days. The mean birth weight was 2900±600 gr, and the mean indirect bilirubin was 17.72 ±4.5 mg/dl. Causes of PJ were breast milk jaundice (%56.3), urinary tract infections (10.4%), blood group (ABO) incompatibility (6.9%), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PDD) (5.9%), hypothyroidism (3.7%), Crikler- Najjar syndrome (2.1%), congenital heart disease (1.3%), and other causes (4.4%).

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that in the infants with prolonged jaundice after complete history and physical examination, detection and treatment of urinary tract infections, blood group incompatibility, G6PD deficiency and hypothyroidism should be taken into consideration. Severity of hyperbilirubinemia in UTI and hypothyroidism is low.

Keywords: Prolonged jaundice, Neonatal hypothyroidism, Urinary tract infection.

 

Received: Jan 18, 2015      Accepted: Jan 30, 2016

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Background and Aim: Neonatal jaundice is a common problem in the neonates which is caused by increased unconjugated bilirubin and can result in serious neurological side effects such as kerinictrus. Several drugs have been used to treat unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia. The present study was conducted to determine the preventive effect of glycerin suppository on neonatal jaundice.
Materials and Methods: This single blind randomized clinical trial included 165 healthy term neonate without jaundice in Besat Hospital in Sanandaj. Neonates were divided into two groups. Case group treated with glycerin suppository at birth and 12 hours after birth. Control group didn’t receive glycerin suppository. Serum bilirubin levels were measured by Bili Check device (spectrophotometry) 12, 24 and 48 hours and also 5 days after birth.
Results: After 48 hours the mean serum bilirubin levels were 8.667 and 11.4412 in the case and control groups respectively, which showed no significant difference (p: 0.57) between the two groups. After 5 day the respective mean serum bilirubin levels in the case and control groups were 10.0450 and 11.05 which revealed a significant difference between the two groups (P value:0.03).
Conclusion: Use of glycerin suppository showed significant effect on reducing billirubin level in the neonates and can be considered as an adjuvant therapy for neonatal jaundice.

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Background and Aim: one of the known complications of phototherapy in the treatment of jaundice in newborns is the reduction of serum calcium and the cause of this phenomenon is still not well defined. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of phototherapy on increasing calcium urinary excretion and to answer the question whether phototherapy can be associated with increased urinary excretion of calcium as a risk factor for nephrolithiasis?
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study 77 infants less than 2 weeks of age with normal weight who were hospitalized for non-physiologic jaundice were enrolled in a sampling study. These infants lack systemic underlying disease and were not treated with Antibiotics - No serum therapy and blood transfusion. Urine specimens were taken at the time of admission and 48 hours after phototherapy of newborns and ca, cr in urine was measured. Then, the ratio Ca/Cr was calculated. Finally, the obtained data was entered into SPSS 19 software and analyzed.
Results: Average random urine Ca/Cr ratio before phototherapy was 0.38± 0.03 and the average random urine of ca/cr after phototherapy was 0.674 ± 0.26. The difference between the mean of Ca/Cr ratio of neonates with jaundice before and after phototherapy was significant (P <0.001) in 49.4% of neonates hypercalciuria was seen (Ca/Cr > 0.8).
Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, which indicates an increase in urinary excretion of calcium, phototherapy in newborns can be considered as a risk factor for the incidence of hypercalciurea and nephrolithiasis.