Am J Perinatol 1999; Volume 16(Number 8): 0421-428
DOI: 10.1055/s-1999-6813
Copyright © 1999 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel: +1(212)760-0888 x132

Changes in Erythrocytic Deformability and Plasma Viscosity in Neonatal Ictericia

A. Bonillo-Perales, A. Muñoz-Hoyos, A. Martínez-Morales, A. Molina-Carballo, J. Uberos-Fernández, A. Puertas-Prieto
  • Departamento de Pediatría, Hospital Torrecárdenas, Almería (AB-P); Departamento de Pediatria, Universidad de Granada, Hospital Clínico Universitario, Grupo Investigación (CTS-190, Junta de Andalucía, Granada (AM-H, AM-C, JU-F); Servicio de Obstetricia y Ginecología. Hospital de Poniente, Almería (AM-M); Departamento de Obstetricia Ginecología, Ciudad Sanitaria "Ruiz de Alda," Granada (AP-P)
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
31 December 1999 (online)

ABSTRACT

-We studied 45 full-term newborns divided into 3 groups. Group 1: 17 newborns with bilirubin <10 mg/dL; Group 2: 18 newborns with hemolytic ictericia (bilirubin 11-20 mg/dL) and Group 3: 10 newborns with moderate hemolytic ictericia needing exchange transfusion. The following were studied: erythrocytic deformability, plasma viscosity, plasmatic osmolarity, seric bilirubin, bilirubin/albumin ratio, free fatty acids and corpuscular volume of the erythrocytes. In full-term newborns, the following are risk factors for increased erythrocytic rigidity: neonatal hemolytic illness (p = 0.004, odds ratio: 7.02), increases in total bilirubin (p = 0.02, odds ratio: 4.3) and increases in the bilirubin/albumin ratio (p = 0.025, odds ratio: 4.25). Furthermore, the most important risk factor for high plasma viscosity is also neonatal hemolytic illness (p = 0.01, odds ratio: 2.30). The role of total bilirubin is also important (p = 0.09, odds ratio: 2.10), while that of the bilirubin/albumin ratio (p = 0.012, NS) is less so. The greater the hemolysis, the greater the erythrocytic rigidity and plasma viscosity (p < 0.01). In full-term newborns with moderate ictericia, hemolytic illness and increases in the bilirubin/albumin ratio are accompanied by rheological alterations that could affect cerebral microcirculation and cause a neurological deficit not exclusively related to the levels of bilirubin in plasma.

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