What does kernicterus do to the body?
Kernicterus is a type of brain damage that can result from high levels of bilirubin in a baby’s blood. It can cause athetoid cerebral palsy and hearing loss. Kernicterus also causes problems with vision and teeth and sometimes can cause intellectual disabilities.
What are the signs and symptoms of kernicterus?
Initial symptoms of kernicterus in babies include:
- poor feeding.
- irritability.
- a high-pitched cry.
- no startle reflex.
- lethargy (sleepiness)
- brief pauses in breathing (apnoea)
- their muscles becoming unusually floppy, like a rag doll.
Which part of the brain does kernicterus affects?
Regions most commonly affected include the basal ganglia; hippocampus; geniculate bodies; and cranial nerve nuclei, such as the oculomotor, vestibular, and cochlear. The cerebellum can also be affected.
How do you manage kernicterus?
Kernicterus treatment Babies with high bilirubin levels are often treated with phototherapy, or light therapy. During this treatment, the baby’s bare body is exposed to a special light. The light increases the rate at which the baby’s body breaks down unconjugated bilirubin.
What are the major clinical features of bilirubin encephalopathy?
Acute bilirubin encephalopathy encompasses the acute illness caused by severe hyperbilirubinemia. Presenting signs and symptoms include decreased feeding, lethargy, abnormal tone (hypotonia and/or hypertonia), high-pitched cry, retrocollis and opisthotonus, setting-sun sign, fever, seizures, and possibly death [6,7].
Can kernicterus be cured?
Once the symptoms of kernicterus appear, brain damage has already begun. Treatment can stop but not reverse this damage. That’s why it’s important to monitor newborns for high bilirubin levels — especially if they’re at risk — and treat them quickly.
Is kernicterus a common event in preterm infants?
We conclude that kernicterus is currently an uncommon event in preterm infants, even when bilirubin levels are allowed to rise above those previously thought to place the premature infant at risk. Kernicterus in premature infants: current prevalence and relationship to NICHD Phototherapy Study exchange criteria
What are the signs and symptoms of kernicterus in newborns?
In some cases, symptoms and physical findings of kernicterus appear two to five days after birth. Within the first few days of life, affected infants develop abnormally high levels of bilirubin in the blood (hyperbilirubinemia) and persistent yellowing of the skin, mucous membranes, and whites of the eyes (jaundice).
How is kernicterus diagnosed in neonatal abstinence syndrome (NBS)?
Kernicterus may be suspected within the first days of life. The diagnosis may be based upon a thorough clinical evaluation and identification of characteristic physical findings (e.g., jaundice, abnormal cry, loss of Moro reflex, etc.).
What is kernicterus and how is it caused?
Kernicterus is a rare neurological disorder caused by bilirubin entering brain tissue and causing damage. What is Jaundice? What is Kernicterus? How Does Kernicterus Affect Children?