Hexachlorophene emulsions and antiseptic skin care of newborn infants.

This paper reviews 81,756 live births and 858 infant deaths occurring during the years 1959 to 1969. Sixty-three instances of central nervous system vacuolation are reported. Prematurity is shown to be a necessary prerequisite for central nervous system vacuolation to occur during routine antiseptic skin care of newborn infants with 3% hexachlorophene emulsions. Hyperbilirubinaemia is a contributory factor in such premature infants. Long-term clinical follow-up studies show that, should central nervous system vacuolation occur in premature infants, there is no resultant detriment to their immediate clinical progress and physical and neurological development. Normal newborn infants weighing more than 2,000 g do not develop such central nervous system vacuolation during routine antiseptic skin care. The writers conclude that there is no rationale for regulations to restrict the use of 3% hexachlorophene emulsions in routine antiseptic skin care of normal newborn infants and that the benefits of such use far outweigh any possible risks from central nervous system vacuolation.