Clinical experience with phototherapy.

Clinical experience with phototherapy in 3,999 infants with non-haemolytic hyperbilirubinaemia and 427 infants with hyperbilirubinaemia associated with G6PD deficiency is presented. For non-haemolytic hyperbilirubinaemia, phototherapy was extremely effective in extremely preterm infants with very low birth weight (gestation less than or equal to 32 weeks, birth weight less than or equal to 1,500 gm) and least effective in full term infants with very low birth weight (gestation greater than 37 weeks, birth weight less than or equal to 1,500 gm) and large preterm infants (gestation less than 37 weeks, birth weight greater than 2,270 gm). The failure rate of phototherapy for non-haemolytic hyperbilirubinemia was only 2.00/1,000 infants. The bilirubin rebound was usually mild; repeat phototherapy was required in only 30 infants (7.50/1,000) with the response to the second exposure comparable to that of the first. No infant required a third exposure. Phototherapy was effective in reducing bilirubin levels in hyperbilirubinaemia associated with G6PD deficiency, the effectiveness being, however, less than in babies with non-haemolytic hyperbilirubinaemia (G6PD normal status). There was no failure in this group of babies. Only a small proportion of infants required a second exposure (4.68/1,000). All the infants tolerated phototherapy well with none developing any illness that could be attributed to the exposure. This clinical experience demonstrates that phototherapy is effective and safe for the treatment of non-haemolytic hyperbilirubinaemia or hyperbilirubinaemia associated with G6PD deficiency.