Kernicterus

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Kernicterus Classification and external resources
Bilirubin
ICD-10	P57.
ICD-9	773.4, 774.7
DiseasesDB	7161
MedlinePlus	003243
eMedicine	ped/1247
MeSH	D007647

Kernicterus is damage to the brain centers of infants caused by elevated levels of bilirubin. This may be due to several underlying pathologic processes. Newborn babies are often polycythemic, meaning they have too many red blood cells. When they break down the cells, one of the byproducts is bilirubin, which circulates in the blood, and causes jaundice. Alternately, Rh incompatibility between mother and fetus may cause hemolysis of fetal red blood cells, thereby releasing unconjugated bilirubin into the fetal blood. Since the fetal blood brain barrier is not fully formed, some of this released bilirubin enters the brain and interferes with normal neuronal development.

In adults and older children, jaundice is harmless in and of itself. However, the tissues protecting the brain (the blood-brain barrier) are immature in newborns. Bilirubin penetrates the brain and is deposited in the basal ganglia, causing irreversible damage. Depending on the level of exposure, the effects range from unnoticeable to severe brain damage.

Some medications, such as trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole may induce this disorder to the baby when taken by the mother.

External links

• CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
• PICK - Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus

v • d • e Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P, 760-779)
Maternal factors and complications	Umbilical cord prolapse - Nuchal cord - Chorioamnionitis
Length of gestation and fetal growth	Small for gestational age - Large for gestational age - Premature birth - Postmature birth
Birth trauma	Cephalhematoma - Brachial plexus lesion (Erb's palsy, Klumpke paralysis)
Respiratory and cardiovascular	Intrauterine hypoxia - Infant respiratory distress syndrome - Transient tachypnea of the newborn - Meconium aspiration syndrome - Pneumomediastinum - Wilson-Mikity syndrome - Bronchopulmonary dysplasia
Haemorrhagic and haematological	Hemorrhagic disease of newborn - Hemolytic disease of the newborn - Rh disease - Hydrops fetalis - Kernicterus - Neonatal jaundice
Digestive system	Ileus - Necrotizing enterocolitis
Integument and temperature regulation	Erythema toxicum
Other disorders	Periventricular leukomalacia - Congenital hypertonia - Congenital hypotonia - Congenital rubella syndrome

de:Bilirubinenzephalopathie

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Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content

Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .