Studies in kernicterus. III. The saturation of serum proteins with bilirubin during neonatal life and its relationship to brain damage at five years

Psychometric studies were performed on a group of 5-year-old children who had been jaundiced during neonatal life. On the basis of the test results, 14 children were considered normal and 18 were classified as having brain damage. The presence or absence of brain damage was compared with clinical and laboratory determinations that had been made on the children during their period of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. No significant correlations were found between the presence or absence of brain damage and the maximum bilirubin concentration, birth weight, sex, presence or absence of hemolytic disease, or the use of exchange transfusion. A significant correlation was found between the presence or absence of brain damage and the saturation of the serum proteins with bilirubin during infancy.