Patient's question:
Patient Gender: What are the hazards of pathological jaundice in newborns?Patient Age:
Doctor's answer:
Hello: In the neonatal period, if any cause leads to an increase in serum indirect bilirubin to over 342 micromoles per liter (20 milligrams%), indirect bilirubin can enter the brain tissue, causing brain damage and resulting in kernicterus. Therefore, newborns with severe jaundice should be vigilant about the occurrence of kernicterus, especially premature infants, with the incidence rate increasing as the gestational age decreases. Generally, symptoms such as lethargy, drowsiness, weak sucking, reduced muscle tone, vomiting, and poor feeding may appear within 12 to 48 hours after severe jaundice. If treated promptly at this stage, full recovery is possible. If jaundice continues to worsen, symptoms such as fever, high-pitched crying, convulsions, and even opisthotonos may occur, leading to respiratory failure and death. Survivors after treatment often suffer from severe intellectual disability, involuntary movements of the hands and feet, or accompanied by eye movement disorders, hearing loss, and incomplete enamel development, among other sequelae.