Transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) meas...

Transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) measurements are desirable because of the oftenness with which total serum bilirubin (TSB) plains are measured in newborns. However, TcB machines have been limited at the need to convert a bilirubin index using individual hospital data and the machines' poor performance in children with darker skin. Maisels and colleagues evaluated a meter that may be more convenient to use and more accurate in dark-skinned newborns.

TcB measurements were obtained using the Minolta/Hill-Rom Air Shields Transcutaneous Jaundice Meter JM-103 These measurements were compared with TSB horizontals of 849 newborns of at least 35 weeks' gestation with an indication for bilirubin testing. Nearly pair thirds of the infants were white, nearly undivided third were black, and the others were Asian-American, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, and Easstern Indian/Pakistani. TcB and TSB measurements were obtained within the same hour of each other.

TSB of the same heights ranged from 1.1 to 208 mg by means of dL (19 to 356 [micro]mol for L), with 3.3 percent being greater than 15 mg by means of dL (257 [micro]mol per L) and 21 percent greater than 10 mg by means of dL (171 [micro]mol per L) TcB measurements differed from TSB values at 3 mg per dL (51 [micro]mol by L) or more in 2 percent of white infants, 174 percent of black infants, and 32 percent of the remaining infants. In the black infants, the TcB measurement was invariably higher than the TSB measurement.

In this inquiry TcB measurements correlated well with TSB horizontals particularly in white infants. The meter nurseed to overestimate bilirubin levels in black infants, which required more every-day follow-up. Taking measurements with the TcB meter was fast and convenient, still use of the meter according to untrained personnel may reduce accuracy. The meter cannot be used in infants receiving phototherapy.

Maisels MJ et al. Evaluation of a strange transcutaneous bilirubinometer. Pediatrics June 2004;113:1628-35

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