Correlation between transcutaneous bilirubin estimation and total serum bilirubin estimation in neonatal hyperbilirubinemia

AIMS: To determine the efficacy of measuring the transcutaneous bilirubin as a screening tool for clinically significant hyperbilirubinaemia in Indian infants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cohort of 100 neonates who have clinical jaundice, admitted in NICU of Institute of Child Health, Kolkata from March 2014 to Jan 2015, were included in the study. Both the total serum bilirubin and transcutaneous bilirubin were measured for the above group. Inclusion criteria was neonates who had clinical jaundice and required extimation of serum bilirubin. Exclusion criteria was neonates who would receive phototherapy and/or exchange transfusion. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Software used was SPSS. RESULTS: 59 male and 41 female neonates were enrolled. A strong agreement was found between Total serum bilirubin and Transcutaneous bilirubin values. Mean gestational age was 34.91 weeks with a mean birth weight of 2492.2 gms.Mean age at the time of measurement was 86.13 hours. CONCLUSION: The above strong agreement between TSB and TCB was same in the term population as well as the whole population. The results of this study supports Transcutaneous bilirubin as an effective screening tool for estimation of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia in Indian infants