Dermal Progression of Neonatal Jaundice of Newborn Under 35 Weeks of Gestational Age

Aim: To determine the dermal progression of neonatal jaundice in newborns under 35 weeks of gestational age and those risk factors which affect dermal progression. Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled eighty-eight preterm newborns under 35 weeks of gestational age in neonatol intensive care unit of Dokuz Eylul University Hospital. It was a cross-sectional analytic case study. We measured capillary and transcutaneous bilirubin levels. Multiple sites of TcB measurement were performed. Results: We observed that there is no significant difference between capillary and transcutaneous bilirubin measurements on preterm newborns under 35 weeks of gestational age (pearson's rho >75 and p<0.05). Additionally, we also observed that transcutaneous bilirubin measurements on preterm newborns under 35 weeks of gestational age (the first day taken on the back, the fourth day on the forehead and the remaining days on the chest) are higher than on the other sides (Friedman test). Therefore, for preterm newborns, jaundice progresses in a different way to cephalocaudal direction with progressive hyperbilirubinemia. We did not observe any association between the existence of cephalocaudal progression in preterm newborns and the laboratory data associated with the mother and baby (Mann-Whitney U test, p>0.05). Conclusion: Transcutaneous bilirubin measurements can be used for neonatal jaundice of newborns under 35 weeks of gestational age. However, we need further studies for comprehensive descriptions of preterm newborns' jaundice progression.