Do triple test results predict risk for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia?

Objective: Neonatal jaundice is the most common condition that requires hospital admission and outpatient follow-up after discharge in neonates. The values of more than 17 mg/dL in term infants are accepted as neonatal significant hyperbilirubinemia. We aimed to define if there is any relationship between second trimester serum markers and neonatal severe hyperbilirubinemia to protect the neonates from its neurological damage.

Methods: Total 1372 pregnant women were enrolled who had done triple test between April 2014 and 2015 and then given birth at our hospital. Our primary outcome was neonatal significant hyperbilirubinemia.

Results: The mean age of our study population was 27.9±5.6. A total of 59 patients had babies with neonatal hyperbilirubinemia after exclusion of Rh incompatibility. We detected that the presence of in vitro pregnancy, maternal health problems or poor obstetric history had no effect on the risk for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia was related with low E3 levels. The ratios of AFP/E3 and hCG/E3 were the most helpful to predict the neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

Conclusions: According to our results, low E3 levels in the triple test result can be helpful to predict the development of the neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. However, this is a bit expensive and many developing countries may not afford it.