title: Follow-up study of auditory brainstem responses in infants with high unbound bilirubin levels treated with albumin infusion therapy.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Saitama Children's Medical Center, Saitama, Japan. hosonos@med.nihon-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shigeharu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hosono
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kimoto
authors.forename: Ren
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagoshi
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Masayo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin; D001663:Bilirubin