Magnetic resonance imaging in three children with kernicterus

Sugama, Seiichi; Soeda, Atsuhiro; Eto, Yoshikatsu

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Volume 25, Issue 4 , Pages 328-331, October 2001

Magnetic resonance imaging in three children with kernicterus

Seiichi Sugama, MD
- Communications should be addressed to Dr. Sugama; Department of Pediatrics; The Jikei University School of Medicine; 3-25-8 Nishishinbashi, Minato-ku; Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
- Department of Pediatrics, Tokyo Metropolitan Kita Medical Rehabilitation Center for Handicapped Johnan Branch, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Pediatrics, Tokyo Metropolitan Maternity and Child Health Institute, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Pediatrics, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Atsuhiro Soeda, MD
- Department of Pediatrics, Tokyo Metropolitan Maternity and Child Health Institute, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Pediatrics, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Yoshikatsu Eto, MD, PhD
- Department of Pediatrics, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Received 17 January 2001; accepted 4 May 2001.

Abstract

The incidence of kernicterus has been greatly reduced by effective monitoring and treatment for hyperbilirubinemia. Findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with kernicterus are characteristic. This study presents three cases of possible kernicterus without typical symptoms but with MRI features consistent with kernicterus. These cases suggest that kernicterus can develop, especially in preterm infants, in the presence of relatively low levels of bilirubin and the absence of obvious acute symptoms. Therefore assessing the risk of kernicterus may be difficult in the neonatal period. In addition, MRI findings at the posteromedial border of the globus pallidus in patients with athetotic cerebral palsy are strong evidence of brain damage caused by kernicterus.