Diffusion-weighted imaging of patients with neonatal bilirubin encephalopathy.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to evaluate neonatal bilirubin encephalopathy in the acute period by the DWI.

Materials And Methods: Thirty newborn babies with hyperbilirubinemia at the gestational age of 38-40 weeks, diagnosed with acute neonatal bilirubin encephalopathy as a result of clinical findings were included in the study, and a further 24 newborn babies, whose ages, weights and gestational ages were equalized, were regarded as a control group. DWI was performed on both patient and control groups.

Results: When DWI apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) of both neonatal bilirubin encephalopathy patients and the control group were compared, ACD values of neonatal bilirubin encephalopathy patients were found to be statistically significantly highly compared to that of the control group (p < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between bilirubin values and DWI findings (r = 0.41, p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The ADC measurement could be a promising parameter in detecting neonatal bilirubin encephalopathy.