Effect of Skinfold Thickness on Transcutaneous Bilirubin Measurements

Abstract

We studied the effect of skinfold thickness on the correlation between serum total bilirubin level and transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) readings. Skinfold thickness measurements were taken at 1–4 h of age. Serum total bilirubin levels and TcB readings were obtained at 1–4 (first) and 44–56 h of age (discharge). No correlation was found between first reading and skinfold thickness (rho = ––0.196), whereas correlations with first serum bilirubin level and blood hematocrit were 0.397 and ––0.373, respectively. The correlation between discharge serum total bilirubin level and TcB reading was affected by skinfold thickness, and not improved with the use of first reading as a reference for discharge reading.

The Accuracy of Transcutaneous Bilirubin Measurements in Neonates: A Correlation Study

“…However, there is controversy regarding the reliability of TcB for the assessment of neonatal jaundice [14,15,17,18,28]. In our study, we addressed as many factors as possible in order to avoid the interaction of factors that may affect the prediction of TSB using TcB measurements [17,29]. The difference in skin thickness was indirectly negated by including preterm infants in the study.…”

Noninvasive Estimation of Serum Bilirubin

“…12 Unfortunately, concerns exist regarding linearity of transcutaneous measurements. [13][14][15][16] The literature also suggests a complex relationship between phototherapy and the measurement of transcutaneous bilirubin; it is unclear if it works reliably when phototherapy has been used. 8,14 The device described in this investigation has a sophisticated computer algorithm for assessing underlying skin color.…”