[Lesions of the nervous system in premature children with "conjugated" jaundices].

Results of many-year observation of 110 prematurely born children who had had nuclear jaundice in the precence of hyperbilirubinemia showed that this pathology not only had distinct temporal parameters, but in most cases also a characteristic clinical picture. The principal symptoms are: an abrupt tossing of the head back, general tonic convulsions, tonic stretching of the arms with pronation of the hands, monotonous constrained cry, amimic face, paroxysms of apnoe, and gross impairments on the part of the brain stem. The most important for the diagnosis and prognosis was the "setting sun" symptom. The diagnosing is difficult when the nuclear jaundice joins pre- or intranatal damage to the nervous system or is combined with an infectious toxicosis. Observation of infants during the first six months makes it possible to confirm the diagnosis. The gravity of the sequelae makes it necessary to transfer infants from the maternity home to pediatric hospitals even if the jaundice is only suspected.