NEONATAL JAUNDICE - ETIOLOGY AND INCIDENCE

Jaundice usually appears in newborns approximately 24 hours after birth, as a result of the imbalance between bilirubin production and excretion. Normally the jaundice disappears or its intensity decreases spontaneously in one or two weeks, with no treatment and living no sequels. Children having dangerously high levels of blood bilirubin need treatment, as it causes cerebral lesions, situation referred to as nuclear jaundice. The aim of this paper was to perform a clinical and statistical study of the neonatal jaundice and to establish the extent to which the treatment and care of newborns influences neonatal jaundice evolution.