Ben Wood

Sequelae of Neonatal Jaundice

A total of 371 newborn infants falling into 3 groups, non-haemolytic jaundice, haemolytic jaundice, and non-jaundiced controls, have been reassessed in the 6th year of life as regards neurological, audiological, and psychological function. Neurological handicap was concentrated among the infants of low birth weight and was not related to jaundice, apart from one case of athetoid cerebral palsy with deafness. No other cases of perceptive deafness were discovered. Intelligence testing on the Stanford Binet scale showed no relation between depth of jaundice and I.Q. These findings support the majority of reports in the literature that reduction in intelligence does not occur in non-haemolytic jaundiced babies with serum bilirubin below about 20 mg./100 ml. In haemolytic jaundice slight doubt remains. There is no indication for changing present standards for exchange transfusion.

DRUG DOSAGE FOR CHILDREN

Abstract Neither age nor weight provide reliable guides for calculating doses of drugs for children. Body-surface area approximates more closely but requires computation or reference to a nomogram. A scale has been produced which gives doses as a proportion of the adult dose at six different age levels after Catzels percentage method. These ages can be regrouped for estimation on a weight basis as follows: if adult dose is 1 mg. per kg., then dose at 12 years is 1.25 mg. per kg., at 1-7 years it is 1.5 mg. per kg., and at 2 weeks to 1 year it is 2 mg. per kg. This gives a simple correlation between the three variables in current use.