Page 702 - 16Neonatal Jaundice_compressed

Neonatal jaundice

Glossary

ABO incompatibility ABO incompatibility describes an antibody reaction that occurs when
mother and baby have different blood groups, typically maternal
blood group O, and baby blood group A or B. Some mothers have
naturally occurring anti-A and anti-B antibodies present in the
circulation, which can pass across the placenta and bind to antigenic
sites on fetal red cell. Some mothers are sensitised by feto-maternal
transfusion of ABO incompatible blood..
Acidosis A blood pH below 7.25.
Acute bilirubin encephalopathy Acute bilirubin encephalopathy is the clinical manifestation of
bilirubin toxicity. The clinical course is hypotonia followed by
hypertonia, retrocollis (backward arching of the neck), or
opisthotonos (backward arching of the back) or both.
Albumin Albumin is one of the proteins found in blood
Aminoglycosides Aminoglycosides are a group of antibiotics that are used to treat
certain bacterial infections
Apnoea Term used when a baby stops breathing for more than 20 seconds
Basal ganglia The part of the brain affected by bilirubin neurotoxicity
Best available evidence The strongest research evidence available to support a particular
guideline recommendation.
Bias Influences on a study that can lead to invalid conclusions about a
treatment or intervention. Bias in research can make a treatment look
better or worse than it really is. Bias can even make it look as if the
treatment works when it actually doesn’t. Bias can occur by chance
or as a result of systematic errors in the design and execution of a
study. Bias can occur at different stages in the research process, e.g.
in the collection, analysis, interpretation, publication or review of
research data. For examples see Selection bias, Performance bias,
Information bias, Confounding, Publication bias.
Biliary atresia The biliary tract has not formed properly and is not patent so that
although the liver conjugates bilirubin it cannot be excreted and so
backflows into the bloodstream giving rise to conjugated
hyperbilirubinaemia. A serious congenital problem which require
urgent surgery
Bilirubin Bilirubin is a product that results from the breakdown of
haemoglobin
Bilirubinometer, transcutaneous A device that used light reflectance to measure the yellow colour
(bilirubin level) in the skin
Bilirubinaemia Term used for the presence of bilirubin in the blood
Blinding or masking The practice of keeping the investigators or subjects of a study
ignorant of the group to which a subject has been assigned. For
example, a clinical trial in which the participating patients or their
doctors are unaware of whether they (the patients) are taking the
experimental drug or a placebo (dummy treatment). The purpose of
‘blinding’ or ‘masking’ is to protect against bias. See also Double
blind study, Single blind study, Triple blind study.
Bradycardia Term used for a slower than normal heart rate

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