KERNICTERUS INFORMATION
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS
Kernicterus is a preventable medical disorder that affects infants and arises when yellow jaundice is not diagnosed and treated appropriately. The name is from the Greek "kern" or kernal plus "icterus" or yellow. This condition usually results in the child suffering from cerebral palsy. The diagnosis is made following analysis of a sample of blood taken from a heel prick that measures the level of bilirubin in a baby's blood. If the bilirubin levels are too high a blood exchange may need to be performed in a hospital with that capability.
The "athetoid" form of cerebral palsy is classic in this condition. Athetosis refers to the slow, writhing involuntary movements that occur. Dystonia, or abnormal muscle tone and position, also occurs. Some children are deaf, some have normal hearing, and some with or without deafness have an auditory processing problem now called auditory neuropathy or auditory dys-synchrony. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing (also known as BAEP or BAER) is often abnormal, whereas other "hearing" tests, such as otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) and cochlear microphonic responses are normal. Symptoms may include
- specific movement disorder
- hearing loss or deafness
- impairment of eye movements especially upward gaze
- abnormal staining of the enamel of baby teeth
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Diagnosis
This condition is usually not diagnosed until the child is about 18 months old when athenoid cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and loss of upward gaze can be confirmed with specific MRI findings and a history of severe jaundice. Children who suffer from this condition often have normal intelligence and normal life expectancy however they must learn to sign and to use communication devices.
While most cerebral palsy is not caused by medical negligence the occurrence of kernicterus, particularly in a term, otherwise health baby is suggestive of medical negligence and most claims will therefore succeed and result in very substantial damages payments.
About 4% of the babies born in Western Europe will have some type of birth injury which is damage caused to the baby's body before, during or shortly after delivery. About 10% of these injuries will have been caused by medical negligence and entitle the child, through their parents, to make a compensation claim against some or all of the healthcare professionals involved in the birth or in prenatal or postnatal care.