J Korean Soc Neonatol.
1999 May;6(1):85-89.
Comparison of Capillary and Venous Bilirubin Values in Neonatal Jaundice
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of pediatrics, Dong-Eui Medical Center, Pusan, Korea.
Abstract
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PURPOSE: Bilirubin values may vary depending on the site of sampling. The purpose of this study is to compare simultaneously
obtained capillary and venous serum bilirubin to assess neonatal jaundice.
METHODS
The subjects for the study included 135 healthy inborn as well as outborn full-term infants admitted to Dong-Eui
Medical Center for evaluation of jaundice from May 1997 to February 1999. A paired capillary and venous sample was simultaneously
drawn from each neonate, and their serum bilirubins were measured by direct spectrophotometric method.
RESULTS
A high correlation between capillary and venous serum bilirubin(correlation coefficient(r) =0.949, P<0.05) was observed.
No significant difference between mean capillary and venous bilirubin was detected when capillary bilirubin was less than 10 mg/dL(P>0.05),
however, the mean venous bilirubin was significantly higher than the mean capillary bilirubin(mean difference;0.65+/-1.04 mg/dL, P<0.0001)
when the capillary bilirubin was greater or equal to 10 g/dL(P>0.05).
CONCLUSION
There was a trend toward venous bilirubin being higher than capillary bilirubin at higher serum bilirubin levels.
However, further studies are needed to ascer-tain the relationship between the site of the sampling and methodology in measurement of bilirubin.