Kernicterus in an adult

Abstract

A 43-year-old woman was initially seen because of icterus. Clinical investigations revealed severe hepatic damage probably due to non-A, non-B hepatitis. She was treated with extracorporeal charcoal-column perfusion but died two weeks later in a hepatic coma. At autopsy, the brain showed kernicterus with typical discoloration of the hippocampus, the subthalamic nuclei, and the cerebellar dentate nuclei. Kernicterus in an adult is very rare. In this case, extracorporeal charcoal-column perfusion treatment led repeatedly to severe depletion of fibrinogen, with extensive hemorrhages. Overload of the already reduced hepatic glucuronyl-transferase capacity resulted in high serum levels of unconjugated bilirubin, an apparent prerequisite for the development of bilirubin encephalopathy.