Symptoms, hazards and countermeasures of neonatal bilirubin encephalopathy

Although every baby will experience neonatal jaundice, if the bilirubin level is high enough to pass through the blood-brain barrier and affect the brain's nervous system, and develop into bilirubin encephalopathy, the harm caused will be irreversible. So what are the characteristics of bilirubin encephalopathy?

1. The degree of jaundice:

Children with bilirubin encephalopathy often have severe jaundice, with severe yellowing of the skin and mucous membranes all over the body. If the limbs, hands, and soles of the feet are all yellow, bilirubin encephalopathy may also occur in premature infants when the bilirubin levels are low, and it is positively correlated with gestational age.

Second, the most vulnerable time:

Bilirubin encephalopathy is common within 1 week after birth, and neurological symptoms may appear as early as 1 to 2 days after birth. Hemolytic jaundice appears early, usually occurring 3 to 5 days after birth. Premature infants or those caused by other reasons mostly occur 6 to 10 days after birth. The serum bilirubin threshold for bilirubin encephalopathy varies with postnatal age. That is to say, the earlier it occurs, the lower the threshold for bilirubin encephalopathy.

3. High risk factors for disease

When there are high-risk factors such as premature birth, asphyxia, dyspnea or hypoxia, severe infection, hypoalbuminemia, hypoglycemia, hypothermia, acidosis or body weight less than 1.5 kg, bilirubin encephalopathy may also occur when serum bilirubin is lower than the critical value.