BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) devices are widely used for the estimation of serum bilirubin levels in term and near-term infants. Our objective was to review the diagnostic accuracy of TcB devices in preterm infants. METHODS Medline, Embase, Cochrane library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Scopus were searched (from database inception d...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Breastfed newborns are more likely to develop prolonged hyperbilirubinemia than those fed formula, but the prevalence of prolonged hyperbilirubinemia in a largely white, North American breastfed population is unknown. In this population, we documented the natural history of jaundice and the prevalence of prolonged hyperbilirubinemia, and we evaluated the utility of ass...

In this report, we review a number of procedures and devices that are used to diagnose and quantify the severity levels of two ubiquitous medical conditions, anemia and bilirubinemia (jaundice). Both conditions are associated with changes in the contents of specific chromophores present in the blood, more specifically hemoglobin present in the red blood cells (RBCs) and biliribin found in the p...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) devices are widely used for the estimation of serum bilirubin levels in term and near-term infants. Our objective was to review the diagnostic accuracy of TcB devices in preterm infants. METHODS: Medline, Embase, Cochrane library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Scopus were searched (from database inception d...

BACKGROUND The therapeutic value of transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the genioglossus muscle in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to reduce sleep-disordered breathing is unclear. METHODS Contraction of the genioglossus muscles during transcutaneous stimulation was investigated using ultrasonography in 11 healthy subjects (seven men, mean [SD] age 30 [6] years; BMI, 24.2 [3.5...

More than 1% of infants are born premature. Many of these children require special treatment because of immature organs and body functions. CO2 is an important parameter to monitor in order to avoid serious brain damage. Blood sampling of CO2 has several shortcomings and non-invasive transcutaneous CO2 is being investigated in order to assess its potential to contribute with the same type of in...

BACKGROUND Elevated serum bilirubin concentrations protect against atherosclerotic diseases; however, it is not clear whether higher serum bilirubin concentrations in physiological ranges work in favor of the cardiovascular system in younger persons with no cardiovascular risk factors. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of high, intermediate, and low serum bilirubin concentrations on coro...