![]() IVIG blocks the Rh-antibodies so that they don't attack blood cells anymore. In this case, in the baby's bloodstream, there are anti-Rh antibodies (coming from the mother as a result of a Rhesus incompatibility), destroying red blood cells. It's a rhesus (Rh) factor disease, and the treatment is intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). There is also a particular case of pathologic neonatal jaundice requiring special treatment. However, if hyperbilirubinemia has an underlying condition, like infection, causal treatment is necessary. During this process, the baby's blood - full of bilirubin - is replaced with blood from a matching donor. If the response is not large enough, the decision to start exchange a transfusion is made. The phototherapy session lasts for about 24 - 36 hours, with short breaks for feeding and nappy changing.Įxchange transfusion - as a more severe treatment, it is usually preceded by phototherapy, checking if the baby responds at all to the light. The child's eyes are covered for protection. The light promotes chemical changes in bilirubin so that it dissolves in water and becomes easy to remove from the body. The most common type of light used is blue light (420 - 560 nm in wavelength). Phototherapy - the child is placed under special lamps or on a phototherapy mattress with fibreoptic cables, which emit a special type of light. There are two main ways of treating hyperbilirubinemia in newborns: This has many different causes, including liver insufficiency, increased blood breakdown (hemolysis), or mechanical obstruction of the bile duct. The yellow tint of the skin and eyes reflects the buildup of bilirubin in the body's tissues. ![]() However, such a complex metabolic pathway leaves a lot of room for things to go wrong. Here it undergoes further breakdown, becoming brown as the iron in the hemoglobin oxidises. Bilirubin is then excreted with bile from the liver into the intestines, where it forms part of stool. So then, if your infant has cholestatic jaundice, it calls for prompt attention and immediate concern. Physiologic jaundice is usually not life-threatening, but pathologic jaundice can be. We have physiological jaundice and pathologic jaundice (also called cholestatic jaundice). The process of destroying hemoglobin takes place in the liver, where it is first converted to bilirubin (a yellow pigment). Well, there are two types of jaundice in newborn infants. After fulfilling their function they must be removed from the body, and the hemoglobin (red pigment) must be broken down. These are the hemoglobin-filled bodies responsible for carrying oxygen, and they have a lifespan of around 100 days. To understand the roots of jaundice, we have to follow the life cycle of erythrocytes (red blood cells). Jaundice causes yellow discoloration of the skin, mucosa, and sclera (the white part of the eye).
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