Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2016 Feb;37(2):142-6.
doi: 10.15537/smj.2016.2.13419.

Transcutaneous bilirubin measurement in healthy Saudi term newborns

Saad A Alsaedi  1
Affiliations
Comment

Transcutaneous bilirubin measurement in healthy Saudi term newborns

Saad A Alsaedi. Saudi Med J. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the accuracy of transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) measurement in healthy, jaundiced Saudi term newborns.

Methods: This prospective, cohort study was carried out from January 2009 to December 2012 on jaundiced, term infants admitted at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Paired TcB and total serum bilirubin (TSB) from healthy jaundiced term newborns were obtained. The correlation and the mean difference between the 2 methods were calculated, and Bhutani nomogram for prediction of TSB by TcB was used. Any bilirubin level at low and above the intermediate risk zone was considered significant.

Results: We obtained 665 paired TcB and TSB measurements from 665 newborns. The mean age at bilirubin measurement was 44.2 ± 21 hour. Mean TSB was 147 ± 45 μmol/L, and TcB was 156 ± 50 μmol/L. Linear regression analysis showed a significant correlation between TcB and TSB (r: 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.82-0.86; p less than 0.001). The TcB tends to overestimate TSB. The mean difference between paired TcB and TSB was 17 μmol /L with a 95% CI of 40 ± 77 μmol/L. The TcB was sensitive, but less specific. The TcB sensitivity was 83% and specificity was 71% to predict TSB during the first 72 hours of life for the whole study group. The positive predictive value was 63%, and negative predictive value was 87%.

Conclusion: As found in this study, among the jaundiced healthy term Saudi newborns, TcB measurement provided accurate estimates of TSB values. The TcB measurements can be used effectively to screen newborns for significant jaundice.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relationship between transcutaneous bilirubin and total serum bilirubin levels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bland-Altman plot of transcutaneous bilirubin versus total serum bilirubin values.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

    1. Bhutani VK, Zipursky A, Blencowe H, Khanna R, Sgro M, Ebbesen F, et al. Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and Rhesus disease of the newborn: incidence and impairment estimates for 2010 at regional and global levels. Pediatr Res. 2013;74(Suppl 1):86–100. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ebbesen F, Bjerre JV, Vandborg PK. Relation between serum bilirubin levels ≥450 µmol/L and bilirubin encephalopathy; a Danish population-based study. Acta Paediatr. 2012;101:384–389. - PubMed
    1. Keren R, Tremont K, Luan X, Cnaan A. Visual assessment of jaundice in term and late preterm infants. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2009;94:F317–F322. - PubMed
    1. Neocleous C, Adramerina A, Limnaios S, Symeonidis S, Spanou C, Malakozi M, et al. Comparison between transcutaneous and total serum bilirubin in healthy-term Greek neonates with clinical jaundice. Prague Med Rep. 2014;115:33–42. - PubMed
    1. Yu Z, Han S, Wu J, Li M, Wang H, Wang J, et al. Validation of transcutaneous bilirubin nomogram for identifying neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in healthy Chinese term and late-preterm infants: a multicenter study. J Pediatr (Rio J) 2014;90:273–278. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources