Published online September 1, 2006
PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 3 September 2006, pp. 1185-1187 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-0594)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by McDonagh, A. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by McDonagh, A. F.
Related Collections
Right arrow Premature & Newborn

STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW ARTICLE

Ex Uno Plures: The Concealed Complexity of Bilirubin Species in Neonatal Blood Samples

Antony F. McDonagh, PhD

Division of Gastroenterology and the Liver Center, University of California, San Francisco, California

ABSTRACT

Blood from jaundiced neonates often contains several isomers of bilirubin in addition to the biosynthetic isomer that causes kernicterus. These isomers are generated during phototherapy or during normal exposure of infants to ambient light. Their presence is generally overlooked or ignored in clinical measurements of circulating bilirubin concentrations and the interpretation of these values. Whether this is justified or clinically important is presently uncertain. However, the presence of isomers may complicate the accurate measurement of free bilirubin concentrations in blood and the use of such values for identifying jaundiced infants at most risk of kernicterus.

Key Words: bilirubin • laboratory medicine • jaundice • phototherapy • hyperbilirubinemia

Accepted Mar 29, 2006.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
A. F. McDonagh, H. J. Vreman, R. J. Wong, and D. K. Stevenson
Photoisomers: Obfuscating Factors in Clinical Peroxidase Measurements of Unbound Bilirubin?
Pediatrics, January 1, 2009; 123(1): 67 - 76.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NEJMHome page
M. J. Maisels and A. F. McDonagh
Phototherapy for Neonatal Jaundice
N. Engl. J. Med., February 28, 2008; 358(9): 920 - 928.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NeoReviewsHome page
R. J. Wong, D. K. Stevenson, C. E. Ahlfors, and H. J. Vreman
Neonatal Jaundice: Bilirubin Physiology and Clinical Chemistry
NeoReviews, February 1, 2007; 8(2): e58 - e67.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]