title: Influence of assessment site in measuring transcutaneous bilirubin.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the influence of the site of measurement of transcutaneous bilirubin (forehead or sternum) in reproducibility of results as compared to plasma bilirubin.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort study including 58 term newborns with no hemolytic disease. Transcutaneous measurements were performed on the forehead (halfway between the headline and the glabella, from the left toward the right side, making consecutive determinations, one-centimeter apart) and the sternum (five measurements, from the suprasternal notch to the xiphoid process with consecutive determinations, one-centimeter apart) using Bilicheck® (SpectRx Inc, Norcross, Georgia, USA). The correlation and agreement between both methods and plasma bilirubin were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a strong linear correlation between both determinations of serum bilirubin at the forehead and sternum (r=0.704; p<0.01 and r=0.653; p<0.01, respectively). There was correspondence of the mean values of transcutaneous bilirubin measured on the sternum (9.9 ± 2.2mg/dL) compared to plasma levels (10.2 ± 1.7 mg/dL), but both differ from the values measured on the forehead (8.6 ± 2 .0mg/dL), p<0.05.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In newborn term infants with no hemolytic disease, measuring of transcutaneous bilirubin on the sternum had higher accuracy as compared to serum bilirubin measurement on the forehead.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristiane Maria
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Conceição
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Fernanda Pellegrino da Silva
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Dornaus
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Aparecida
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Portella
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alice D Agostini
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Celso Moura
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rebello
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000032:analysis*; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000379:methods; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005546:Forehead; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007567:Jaundice, Neonatal / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013249:Sternum
chemical_list: D001663:Bilirubin
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