Cord blood alfa -fetoprotein as a predictive index for indirect hyperbilirubinemia in term neonates

Background: prediction of severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is very important for early treatment and prophylaxis of neurologic sequels. the aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive role of umbilical cord ?-fetoprotein (ucafp) as a marker of an increased risk for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in full term babies. methods: umbilical cord blood was collected from 400 term singleton full term well newborn babies who met our inclusion criteria and stored in -20°c. those who developed jaundice and admitted for phototherapy (34 newborns: 22 males and 12 females), considered as case group and 31 non-jaundiced infants (13 males and 18 females) gestational age–weight-matched considered as the control group. the serum level of ucafp was checked in these 65 newborns and was compared between these two groups. results: mean ucafp in case group was 523.429±174.158 and in control group was 664.548±154.894 ?g/l. in the non-jaundiced group, mean ucafp values was higher than neonate with hyperbilirubinemia (664.548 vs. 523.429?g/l). the mean ucafp in males was 519.023 ?g/l and in females was 531.508 ?g/l (p=0.066). sixty (92.3%) babies delivered by cesarean section (cs) and 5 (7.7%) by normal vaginal delivery (p=0.566). conclusion: according to our study, there was no significant positive association between ucafp and subsequent neonatal indirect hyperbilirubinemia or serum bilirubin level