KERNICTERUS

severe brain damage caused by abnormal concentration of the bile pigment bilirubin in tissues at or shortly after birth. It formerly accounted for 10 percent of cerebral palsy cases; the use of massive transfusions to replace the newborn infant's blood and the development of phototherapy to treat neonatal jaundice have, however, greatly reduced the incidence of such brain damage. Kernicterus may occur because of blood-group incompatibility between mother and child, as in erythroblastosis fetalis (q.v.), where the mother's immune system destroys fetal blood cells, resulting in severe anemia and jaundice in the newborn. Other common causes are certain types of drug therapy and jaundice associated with prematurity.