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Extremely high levels of unconjugated bilirubin in plasma enables bilirubin to cross the blood-brain-barrier to reach the brain and central nervous system to impart damage. This is termed kernicterus, or bilirubin encephalopathy. Kernicterus is rare in adults but is prevalent in newborns with underdeveloped blood-brain barriers and lower ...
Hyperbilirubinemia is a higher-than-normal level of bilirubin in the blood. Hyperbilirubinemia may refer to increased levels of conjugated, unconjugated or both conjugated and unconjugated bilirubin. The causes of hyperbilirubinemia can also be classified into prehepatic, intrahepatic, and posthepatic. [21]
Hereditary hyperbilirubinemia refers to a group of conditions where levels of bilirubin, a byproduct of red blood cell metabolism, are elevated in the blood due to a genetic cause. [1] Various mutations of enzymes in the liver cells, which breakdown bilirubin, cause varying elevated levels of bilirubin in the blood. [2]
Gilbert syndrome is a phenotypic effect, mostly associated with increased blood bilirubin levels, but also sometimes characterized by mild jaundice due to increased unconjugated bilirubin, that arises from several different genotypic variants of the gene for the enzyme responsible for changing bilirubin to the conjugated form. [citation needed]
Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. [3] [6] Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme metabolism, liver dysfunction, or biliary-tract obstruction. [7]
The presence of urobilinogen and its increased levels indicate that there are more than normal amounts of bilirubin in the intestine, showing that jaundice observed is not due to the blockage of bile flow, and is of pre-hepatic or hepatic causes. [32]
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Chronic hemolysis leads to an increased excretion of bilirubin into the biliary tract, which in turn may lead to gallstones. [8] The continuous release of free hemoglobin has been linked with the development of pulmonary hypertension (increased pressure over the pulmonary artery ); this, in turn, leads to episodes of syncope (fainting), chest ...