Cord Blood Albumin; A Predictor of Neonatal Jaundice

Abstract

Objective: To determine significance of cord blood albumin as predictor of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Methodology: This cross-sectional was conducted in 6 months from 24-4-2021 to 23-9-2021 at Department of neonatology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital, Muzaffargarh. Early preterm, late preterm and term neonates, age less than 1 week were included in the study. Patients were divided in three groups on basis of gestational age. Group 1 was included early preterm; group 2 was included late preterm and group 3 was including term neonates. Cord blood samples were taken in sterile vials for serum albumin at birth. Patients were followed from 2nd to 7th day of life for development of jaundice. Patients who had transcutaneous bilirubin more than 5mg/dl were selected for serum bilirubin level estimation. Results: A total of 73 newborn babies were studied; with an average age of approximately 4.94+1.68 days. There were 52.1% male and 47.9% female babies. There were no significant differences in average blood cord albumin and direct bilirubin levels among these groups. However, significant variations were observed in terms of total bilirubin and indirect bilirubin levels, with early and late preterm babies displaying higher levels compared to term babies. Moreover, the study established significant inverse correlations between cord blood albumin levels and both total bilirubin (r ? -0.389, p = 0.001) and indirect bilirubin levels (r ? -0.313, p = 0.007). Conclusion: Study provides compelling evidence to support the role of cord blood albumin as a predictor of neonatal jaundice through its observed inverse correlations with bilirubin levels. The findings underscore the potential clinical utility of cord blood albumin as an early diagnostic marker for identifying newborns at risk of developing jaundice.