John, a 4-Day-Old Boy with Hyperbilirubinemia

Abstract

CASE PRESENTATION John is a 4-day-old boy who presents as a direct admission from his pediatrician’s office for hyperbilirubinemia. He was born at an estimated gestational age (EGA) of 37 weeks. His pediatrician does not have access to the maternal records, and John’s mother does not recall her blood type. Today, following the pediatrician visit, John was found to have an elevated bilirubin level of 17.9 mg/dL (306.16 μmol/L) with a direct bilirubin of 0.8 mg/dL (13.68 μmol/L), and he is noted to have lost nearly 13% of his birth weight. Based on these findings, his pediatrician asked John’s family to take him directly to the inpatient unit.