Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

Reply to Bhutani et al.

Journal of Perinatology volume 34, page 81 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

We agree with Dr Bhutani et al.,1 that waiting to consider initiating phototherapy until the rate of rise of bilirubin is >0.5 mg dl−1 h−1 would, indeed, increase the risks of hyperbilirubinemia. This value, listed in the ‘Multidisciplinary Guidelines for the Care of Late Preterm Infants,’ p S8,1 was an unfortunate typographical error and was meant to read >0.2 mg dl−1 h−1. Dr. Bhutani and co-authors use this value as an indicator of babies ‘who are likely to cross into higher-risk zones with accelerated rates of bilirubin rise (>0.2 mg per 100 ml per h)’.2 We appreciate Dr Bhutani’s keen eye and have great respect for the contributions he has made to the appropriate management of hyperbilirubinemia, including his latest publication,3 which we would have included in our references had it been available at the time the guidelines went into print (and will certainly be included in future updates). We regret not catching this error ourselves and appreciate the opportunity to make the correction.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Phillips RM, Goldstein M, Hougland K, Nandyal R, Pizzica A, Santa-Donato A et al. Multidisciplinary guidelines for the care of late preterm infants. J Perinatol 2013; 33 (Suppl 2): S5–S22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Bhutani VK, Vilms RJ, Hamerman-Johnson L . Universal bilirubin screening for severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. J Perinatol 2010; 30 (Suppl): S6–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bhutani VK, Stark AR, Lazzeroni LC, Poland R, Gourley GR, Kazmierczak S et al. Predischarge screening for severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia identifies infants who need phototherapy. J Pediatrics 2013; 162 (3): 477–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Multidisciplinary Guidelines for the Care of Late Preterm Infants Steering Committee, Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, Loma Linda, CA, USA

    R Phillips

Authors
  1. R Phillips
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R Phillips.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Phillips, R. Reply to Bhutani et al.. J Perinatol 34, 81 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2013.131

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2013.131

Search

Advanced search

Quick links