JAUNDICE IN INFANTS AND IN CHILDREN

Abstract

In a previous study 1 we obtained equal values for the icteric index of a series of specimens of cord blood and of blood from normal newborn infants by the water and by the acetone method. Since the values obtained by the two methods for several patients with congenital hemolytic icterus examined at that time were similar, we concluded that this test might be useful in differentiating the hemolytic type of jaundice from other types. Further studies were made, and 13 patients with hemolytic jaundice and 6 with nonhemolytic icterus caused either by intrinsic hepatic disease or by biliary obstruction were examined. METHOD The icteric index, a simple quantitative method for studying the degree of jaundice, was introduced by Meulengracht 2 in 1920. The serum is diluted directly with a physiologic solution of sodium chloride or water and matched with arbitrary standards of potassium dichromate solution. Hemolysis, which may be