[Bilirubin encephalopathy in an icteric bile-vomiting infant with high intestinal obstruction].

In a 5-day-old full-term, dehydrated boy with bilious vomiting and a cephalhaematoma, bilirubin encephalopathy was diagnosed at a serum bilirubin level of 395 mumol/l. The patient was rehydrated intravenously and treated with phototherapy and an exchange transfusion, after which the serum bilirubin level decreased. The neurological condition normalised during his stay in the hospital. Hyperbilirubinaemia was caused by an increased enterohepatic circulation due to a high intestinal obstruction and resorption of the cephalhaematoma. Toxicity was caused by dehydration and fasting. Even with new bilirubin guidelines it remains important to distinguish a healthy neonate from an ill jaundiced neonate, because at lower serum bilirubin levels symptoms may occur that fit the clinical picture of a bilirubin encephalopathy.