[Developmental diseases of the central nervous system caused by neonatal hyperbilirubinemia].

Neuropsychological development was evaluated in 71 infants. Groups: G I, healthy full term infants; G II, premature infants; G III, sick newborns. In these groups, total bilirubin (TB), free bilirubin (FB) and bilirubin binding capacity (BBC) of albumin were determined during the neonatal period. TB and FB concentration were determined by Brodersen and Bartels method. Neurological evaluation was estimated by physical exam, EEG, ophthalmological and audiometric exam. Psychological evaluation was done by Brunet-Lezine test. Infants were subdivided in three groups in relation to the degree of encephalopathy. Premature infants in whom FB was detected in the early neonatal period, the risk of suffering encephalopathy was twice that for simply premature infants. The incidence of encephalopathy in sick full term infants was 68%; 63% of which corresponded to newborns with ABO-Rh iso-immunization, in whom FB was detected in 85% of cases.