1 Clinical Director Neonatology, Nassau County Medical Center, East Meadow, New York 11554
I agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Lanzkowsky that "phototherapy should be used with extreme caution" and that it is the object of "indiscriminate use . . . bringing in its wake a number of potential hazards." However, I disagree that anemia after use in hemolytic disease is the fault of the therapy.
Just as a good carpenter does not blame his tools, a knowledgable physician does not abuse his tools, although he knows their hazards. Phototherapy is an adjunct in the treatment of pathological jaundice, and is considered to be therapeutic in physiologic jaundice by some, while unnecessary by others.