Follow-up study of auditory brainstem responses in infants with high unbound bilirubin levels treated with albumin infusion therapy.
BACKGROUND
Several authors reported that there was a close relationship between unbound bilirubin concentrations and abnormal results of auditory brainstem responses. Full-term infants with high-unbound bilirubin concentrations who were treated with human albumin were followed to evaluate their hearing abilities by using auditory brainstem responses.


METHODS
Fifty-eight infants (gestational age, 39.4 +/- 1.4 weeks; birthweight, 3,245 +/- 435 g) with high unbound bilirubin concentrations (> or = 0.9 micro g/dL) were treated with intensive phototherapy. Twenty infants (control group) received only phototherapy, while 38 others (albumin-treated group) were also given i.v. human albumin administration (1 g/kg bodyweight) during the first 2 h of phototherapy. The follow-up study of auditory brainstem responses was carried out at 6 and 12 months of age. Development quotient tests were carried out at 18 months of age.


RESULTS
Abnormalities of auditory brainstem response were detected in three infants in the albumin-treated group and six infants in the control group at 6 months. Two infants in the albumin-treated group and four infants in the control group had improved at 12 months. The results of the follow-up study at 18 months of age in the both groups were normal with development quotient >85. No patients with hearing disability and cerebral palsy were clinically detected at the age of 2 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that albumin priming might be effective for decreasing the rate of auditory brainstem response abnormalities at 6 months.
Hosono
Shigeharu
S
Division of Neonatology, Saitama Children's Medical Center, Saitama, Japan. hosonos@med.nihon-u.ac.jp
Ohno
Tsutomu
T
Kimoto
Hirofumi
H
Nagoshi
Ren
R
Shimizu
Masaki
M
Nozawa
Masayo
M
Harada
Kensuke
K
D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007567:Jaundice, Neonatal / Q000628:therapy*; D010789:Phototherapy; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D012709:Serum Albumin; D001663:Bilirubin