This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Muin J. Khoury, MD, PhD; Eugenia E. Calle, PhD; Riduan M. Joesoef, MD, PhD

Am J Dis Child. 1988;142(10):1065-1069.

Abstract
• The recurrence of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (NHB) in full siblings was studied in 3301 live infants born between 1966 and 1986 to 1669 male US Army veterans who were part of a nationwide health study. The study population included 580 sibships with one infant, 679 with two, and 410 with three or more. Hospital of birth medical records were abstracted on these children. Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia was defined as present if the recorded peak bilirubin level was greater than 205 µmol/L in the absence of hemolytic disease of the new-born. The risk of NHB in newborns who have one or more prior sibs with NHB was 3.1 times higher than that of new-borns who have prior sibs without NHB (10.3% vs 3.6%). Simultaneous adjustment for risk factors for NHB, such as feeding patterns, year of birth, maternal obstetric events, and infant health variables, did not explain the excess risk of NHB in sibs. Moreover, the risk of severe NHB (peak bilirubin level, >257 µmol/L) in newborns who have one or more prior sibs with severe NHB was 12.5 times higher than that of newborns who have prior sibs without severe NHB (10.5% vs 0.9%). Separate analyses in sibships where all sibs were breast-fed and in sibships where all sibs were bottle-fed gave similar results. These data clearly suggest the familial nature of NHB. The higher risk of recurrence of NHB in sibs does not seem to be due to known environmental risk factors for NHB.

(AJDC 1988;142:1065-1069)

Author Affiliations
From the Birth Defects and Genetic Diseases Branch, Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (Drs Khoury and Calle), and the Division of Chronic Disease Control (Dr Joesoef), Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication June 11, 1988.

Reprint requests to Birth Defects and Genetic Diseases Branch, Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control, Centers for Disease Control, Mail Stop F #37, Atlanta, GA 30333 (Dr Khoury).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Complex Multifactorial Nature of Significant Hyperbilirubinemia in Neonates
Watchko et al.
Pediatrics 2009;124:e868-e877.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Noninvasive Measurement of Total Serum Bilirubin in a Multiracial Predischarge Newborn Population to Assess the Risk of Severe Hyperbilirubinemia
Bhutani et al.
Pediatrics 2000;106:17e-17.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT