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Hyperbilirubinemia in premature infants
Volume Number
Selected
79 6
The value of x-ray placentography is assessed and the author feels an accuracy of 85 to 90 per cent can be expected. Jack
Lifiman
Rendle-Short: Prognosis for Foetus of Mothers of Forty Years of Age and Over, p. 657. The records of the Jessop Hospital for Women, Sheffield, were reviewed for the years 1952 to 1956, inclusive. This hospital deals mostly with abnormal obstetrics and these figures are not necessarily representative of the general population. The length of follow-up varied from 10 days to 1 year and no special attempt was made to recall the children for special observation. The neonatal death rate for the infants of women over 40 was 27.4 per 1,000 live births and 23.1 per 1,000 live births for women under 40. The women over 40 were delivered of 7.8 per cent premature infants while the women under 40 were delivered of 9.9 per cent premature babies. This difference is not statistically significant. The stillbirth rate shows that the prognosis is worse for the fetus of a mother 40 years old or older, the figures being 59.0 per 1,000 births for the older group as against 40.8 per 1,000 for the infants of younger women. The effect of parity on the older women’s pregnancies is presented. Seventy-three of 75 mothers having their first baby over the age of 40 had a live child. All but two of the deaths occurred among the babies of mothers who had had 2 or more pregnancies. The incidence of Mongolism was 11.4 per 1,000 live births. The incidence of other major congenital abnormalities was too small to be of significance. Jack Lipman
Journal
of Pediatrics
Vol.
July,
55,
*Koch,
1959.
C. A., et al.: Hyperbilirubinemia in Premature Infants-A Follow-up Study, p. 23. *Summer, G. K., and Goulson, J. P.: Heme Pigment and Bilirubin Rebound Following Exchange Transfusion in Infants With Erythroblastosis Fetalis, p. 30. *Dancis, Joseph: The Placenta, p. 85. Koch et al.: Hyperbilinibmemia in Premature Infants, p. 23. In 1953 serial determinations of the serum bili-
abstracts
1221
rubin were made on 100 consecutive premature infants. Forty-nine children were re-examined at age 2 to 3, for the detection of clinical evidence of kernicterus. Five children (10 per cent) had neuromuscular abnormalities highly suggestive of kernicterus. All of these children had displayed serum bilirubin levels of over 20 mg. per 100 ml. during their neonatal periods. Schuyler G. Kohl Summer
and Goulson: Heme Pigment and Bilirubin Rebound Following Exchange Transfusion in Infants With Erythroblastosis Fetalis, p. 30. This study was undertaken in order to characterize spectrophotometrically the absorption patterns of bilirubin and heme pigments in serum before and after repeated exchange transfusions; to compare clearance of bilirubin and heme pigments from serum by exchange transfusion; and to assess the extravascular reservoir and gradient between this space and plasma. Clearance of these substances from serum by exchange transfusion is related to the persistence of substantial amounts in the tissues. There is a rise of bilirubin and heme pigments in serum following exchange transfusion. This is the result of the establishment of new equilibria between the extravascular space and the plasma. “The factors determining the distribution, movement and pathologic effects of these compounds are poorly understood.” Schuyler
G. Kohl
Dancis: The Placenta, p. 85. This short contribution on the placenta is written with considerable awareness of the varying interests of the readers of the journal. The author succeeds in presenting his material with sufficient detail to be interesting and stimulating but not so detailed as to be discouraging to the uninitiated. The material is presented under several headings: Comparative Placentation, Endocrine Function, Placental Transfer, Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide, Proteins, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Electrolytes, Endocrine Transfer, and Pathology. The author wanted to “present a coherent story of the current concepts of the placenta.” He has succeeded admirably. The bibliography is a presentation of the “recent and more inclusive publications, those that will most conveniently provide an entree to the literature for the interested reader.” Schuyler
G. Kohl
Selected
79 6
The value of x-ray placentography is assessed and the author feels an accuracy of 85 to 90 per cent can be expected. Jack
Lifiman
Rendle-Short: Prognosis for Foetus of Mothers of Forty Years of Age and Over, p. 657. The records of the Jessop Hospital for Women, Sheffield, were reviewed for the years 1952 to 1956, inclusive. This hospital deals mostly with abnormal obstetrics and these figures are not necessarily representative of the general population. The length of follow-up varied from 10 days to 1 year and no special attempt was made to recall the children for special observation. The neonatal death rate for the infants of women over 40 was 27.4 per 1,000 live births and 23.1 per 1,000 live births for women under 40. The women over 40 were delivered of 7.8 per cent premature infants while the women under 40 were delivered of 9.9 per cent premature babies. This difference is not statistically significant. The stillbirth rate shows that the prognosis is worse for the fetus of a mother 40 years old or older, the figures being 59.0 per 1,000 births for the older group as against 40.8 per 1,000 for the infants of younger women. The effect of parity on the older women’s pregnancies is presented. Seventy-three of 75 mothers having their first baby over the age of 40 had a live child. All but two of the deaths occurred among the babies of mothers who had had 2 or more pregnancies. The incidence of Mongolism was 11.4 per 1,000 live births. The incidence of other major congenital abnormalities was too small to be of significance. Jack Lipman
Journal
of Pediatrics
Vol.
July,
55,
*Koch,
1959.
C. A., et al.: Hyperbilirubinemia in Premature Infants-A Follow-up Study, p. 23. *Summer, G. K., and Goulson, J. P.: Heme Pigment and Bilirubin Rebound Following Exchange Transfusion in Infants With Erythroblastosis Fetalis, p. 30. *Dancis, Joseph: The Placenta, p. 85. Koch et al.: Hyperbilinibmemia in Premature Infants, p. 23. In 1953 serial determinations of the serum bili-
abstracts
1221
rubin were made on 100 consecutive premature infants. Forty-nine children were re-examined at age 2 to 3, for the detection of clinical evidence of kernicterus. Five children (10 per cent) had neuromuscular abnormalities highly suggestive of kernicterus. All of these children had displayed serum bilirubin levels of over 20 mg. per 100 ml. during their neonatal periods. Schuyler G. Kohl Summer
and Goulson: Heme Pigment and Bilirubin Rebound Following Exchange Transfusion in Infants With Erythroblastosis Fetalis, p. 30. This study was undertaken in order to characterize spectrophotometrically the absorption patterns of bilirubin and heme pigments in serum before and after repeated exchange transfusions; to compare clearance of bilirubin and heme pigments from serum by exchange transfusion; and to assess the extravascular reservoir and gradient between this space and plasma. Clearance of these substances from serum by exchange transfusion is related to the persistence of substantial amounts in the tissues. There is a rise of bilirubin and heme pigments in serum following exchange transfusion. This is the result of the establishment of new equilibria between the extravascular space and the plasma. “The factors determining the distribution, movement and pathologic effects of these compounds are poorly understood.” Schuyler
G. Kohl
Dancis: The Placenta, p. 85. This short contribution on the placenta is written with considerable awareness of the varying interests of the readers of the journal. The author succeeds in presenting his material with sufficient detail to be interesting and stimulating but not so detailed as to be discouraging to the uninitiated. The material is presented under several headings: Comparative Placentation, Endocrine Function, Placental Transfer, Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide, Proteins, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Electrolytes, Endocrine Transfer, and Pathology. The author wanted to “present a coherent story of the current concepts of the placenta.” He has succeeded admirably. The bibliography is a presentation of the “recent and more inclusive publications, those that will most conveniently provide an entree to the literature for the interested reader.” Schuyler
G. Kohl