Question
A colleague’s baby has recently shown a whitish tinge to the eyes. Does this indicate a severe case of newborn jaundice?
Answer
Newborn jaundice can be categorized into physiological and pathological types. When observing jaundice visually, one can roughly assess its severity. For instance, if jaundice appears on the face of the baby, the jaundice level is approximately 5mg/dl; if it also affects the trunk, including the whites of the eyes, it’s about 10mg/dl. If the extremities, palms, soles, or whites of the eyes are particularly yellow, the jaundice level may exceed 15mg/dl, at which point further examination is required. Jaundice is typically measured through skin assessment, but the most accurate indicator is the bilirubin level in blood tests. Therefore, for babies with a whitish appearance in their eyes, it’s important to determine whether they have physiological or pathological jaundice based on their gestational age and days of birth, and to assess it in conjunction with the bilirubin levels in their blood.