Neonatal Hepatitis

Neonatal hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that occurs in early infancy, usually one to two months after birth. About 20 percent of infants who develop neonatal hepatitis were infected with a virus causing inflammation of the liver

Neonatal hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that occurs in early infancy, usually one to two months after birth. About 20 percent of infants who develop neonatal hepatitis were infected with a virus causing inflammation of the liver either before birth through their mother, or shortly after birth. Viruses which can cause neonatal hepatitis in infants include cytomegalovirus, rubella (measles), and hepatitis A, B and C. In the remaining 80 percent of affected infants, no specific cause can be identified, by many experts suspect a virus is to blame.

Cause of Neonatal hepatitis:

Hepatitis in the neonatal period presumed to be due to a variety of causes, chiefly viral; characterised by direct and indirect bilirubinaemia, hepatocellular degeneration, and appearance of multinucleated giant cells; may be difficult to distinguish from biliary atresia, but is more likely to end with recovery, although cirrhosis may develop.

Neonatal hepatitis refers to a group of liver disorders that affect newborns between the ages of about 1 and 2 months, and produce a typical yellow color to the infant''s skin (jaundice). In contrast to infants with biliary atresia, those with neonatal hepatitis have normal, intact, bile ducts (biliary tracts).

''Idiopathic neonatal hepatitis'' is a term that has traditionally been used to denote a clinical syndrome manifest by prolonged jaundice in the neonate. This description is now used much less frequently because recent studies unite well-defined clinical, biochemical and molecular features of intrahepatic cholestasis into specific syndromes.

Treatment

Treatment of the underlying cause.Increase fluid intake - usually oral but may require intravenous fluids depending on the cause and well-being of the baby. Phototherapy: The indications and use of phototherapy vary between units and are dependent not only on the level of the serum bilirubin but also on the gestation of the baby, rate of rise of bilirubin, likely underlying cause and well-being of the baby. Phototherapy should be started immediately if a rapidly rising bilirubin is expected, e.g. haemolytic disease, and with jaundice at less than 24 hours.The more premature the infant the lower the levels of bilirubin that are tolerated. One formula for the phototherapy threshold is birthweight in kg x 100. In term babies phototherapy should be given when the bilirubin rises above 300 micromol/l1.

Neonatal hepatitis syndrome (giant cell hepatitis) is an inflammatory condition of the neonatal liver. It has numerous metabolic, infectious, and genetic causes; some cases are idiopathic. Metabolic diseases include ? 1-antitrypsin deficiency, cystic fibrosis, neonatal iron storage disease, respiratory chain defects, and fatty acid oxidation defects. Infectious causes include congenital syphilis, echovirus, and some herpesviruses (simplex and cytomegalovirus); the classic hepatitis viruses (A, B, and C) are less common causes. There are also a number of less common genetic defects, such as Alagille syndrome and progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis.

Neonatal hepatitis or perinatal hepatitis is a rare fulminant disease of the liver, of unknown cause, characterized by massive deposition of iron in the liver, pancreas, heart, and endocrine glands; symptoms are those of neonatal hepatitis and appear in utero or within the first week of life, with death usually occurring by 4 months of age.

Read About Red prom dress, Pink Prom Dress, black prom dress Also read about Wedding Dress, wedding hairstyles and Apply for Credit Cards