Umbilical Cord Blood Bilirubin Level Measurement in Predicting the Development of Significant Hyperbilirubinemia

Abstract

Objectives: This prospective study was undertaken to identify the newborns at risk for developing significant hyperbilirubinemia using cord blood serum bilirubin levels. Methodology: This was prospective study with total of 282 healthy term newborns delivered at MNR Hospital, were included in study with birth weight more than 2,500 grams during one year period from March 2013 to March 2014. Soon after delivery cord blood was sent for serum bilirubin analysis. The data was analyzed using t-test, ROC curve and chi test and was considered statically significant, if value is P 0.05, while in cord bilirubin level there is highly significant difference P <0.05. In our study on the amount of umbilical cord bilirubin cut off point of 2 mg/dl had good sensitivity (94.12), specificity (90.9%), positive predictive value (69.57%) and negative predictive value (98.59%). Conclusion: The present study led to the conclusion that the bilirubin levels that were equal to or greater than 2 mg/100 ml umbilical cord blood can predict significant hyperbilirubinemia with high negative and positive predictive values and high levels of sensitivity and specificity.