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Elevated Bilirubin In Infant. Why Was Indirect Bilirubin Not Determined, Breastfed Jaundice?
Question: hello, my female one month old baby has elevated total and elevated direct bilirubin. The units were in umol/l.
Total is 85.8 umol/l and the direct is 7.44 umol/l......i dont know why the indirect bilirubin level was not determined. Should i be worried? is this breastfed jaundice? is it ok to have elevated direct bilirubin? i took her to the doctor who said nothing but to watch it.......she was born full term normal
Total is 85.8 umol/l and the direct is 7.44 umol/l......i dont know why the indirect bilirubin level was not determined. Should i be worried? is this breastfed jaundice? is it ok to have elevated direct bilirubin? i took her to the doctor who said nothing but to watch it.......she was born full term normal
hi XXXXXXX
Indirect bilirubin is always to be calculated indirectly by subtracting the direct bilirubin from total. if total bilirubin is not abnormal, indirect bilirubin has no value, Direct bilirubin is abnormal only when it exceeds 20 percent of total bilirubin.Your babies bilirubin is around 85umol/litre, that is less than 1mg/dl so its almost negligible and mild and the jaundice cannot be seen over skin.
Most newborn babies develop such type of jaundice (need not be seen) in first 2 weeks of life and then it weans of over a week, this may be the similar type , that is the reason your doctor said its good to watch out for. If this jaundice is not related to or a part of normal types in newborn, it should show a rising trend. so if the child looks little more yellow over a week, we may need a repeat test to confirm the same and investigate further accordingly.
Should i be worried?
=== not yet.
is this breastfed jaundice?
==== not yet.
is it ok to have elevated direct bilirubin?
=== not yet elevated to serious levels. often we worry when direct bilirubin is beyond 2mg/dl that is 2X88umol/litre
I hope this answers your query. please reply back if any part is not understood.
Indirect bilirubin is always to be calculated indirectly by subtracting the direct bilirubin from total. if total bilirubin is not abnormal, indirect bilirubin has no value, Direct bilirubin is abnormal only when it exceeds 20 percent of total bilirubin.Your babies bilirubin is around 85umol/litre, that is less than 1mg/dl so its almost negligible and mild and the jaundice cannot be seen over skin.
Most newborn babies develop such type of jaundice (need not be seen) in first 2 weeks of life and then it weans of over a week, this may be the similar type , that is the reason your doctor said its good to watch out for. If this jaundice is not related to or a part of normal types in newborn, it should show a rising trend. so if the child looks little more yellow over a week, we may need a repeat test to confirm the same and investigate further accordingly.
Should i be worried?
=== not yet.
is this breastfed jaundice?
==== not yet.
is it ok to have elevated direct bilirubin?
=== not yet elevated to serious levels. often we worry when direct bilirubin is beyond 2mg/dl that is 2X88umol/litre
I hope this answers your query. please reply back if any part is not understood.
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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