SCIENCE@home

Effectiveness of green light phototherapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia

T. Kusaka

Published 2019 in Pediatrics International

ABSTRACT

Sixty years have passed since Cremer et al. reported on the beneficial effects of phototherapy for treating neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. The mechanism of action of phototherapy is now known to involve the photochemical reaction of bilirubin in a tetrapyrrolic state, and qualitative and quantitative analyses of these photoisomers have been performed using highperformance liquid chromatography. The most important photoisomer in the clinical effectiveness of phototherapy is the structural photoisomer (EZ)-cyclobilirubin IXa. With this isomer, in vitro evaluation of the clinical effectiveness of light sources in phototherapy became possible, and green light phototherapy was shown to be effective. Against this background, Kuboi et al. report in the Journal an investigation of the clinical effectiveness of green light-emitting diode (LED) phototherapy in vivo. Blue light contains a short visible wavelength close to that of harmful ultraviolet light. Blue light has been shown to have subclinical cell toxicity, as evidenced by the visual impairment caused by blue light from liquid-crystal display monitors. In recent years, the adverse effects of aggressive phototherapy in extremely low-birthweight infants have been reported, and are becoming a clinical problem. Therefore, when considering the effectiveness and toxicity of phototherapy, green light can be considered preferable. As such, light sources with longer wavelengths in the blue light spectrum are being developed by manufacturers overseas. This problem can be resolved by phototherapy using LED that exclude the deleterious wavelengths in the visible spectrum and provide stronger irradiation of monochromatic light. Here, Kuboi et al. report a randomized comparative study showing that the clinical effectiveness of green LED phototherapy is similar to that of blue LED phototherapy. Japan is one of the few countries currently using green light in the clinical setting, and it is important to show the clinical effectiveness of green LED phototherapy, which is not evaluated based on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Guidelines. Along with the review paper by Itoh et al., which was recently published in the Journal, we hope that the Kuboi et al. report will be read not only by neonatologists, but by all pediatric physicians. Disclosure

PUBLICATION RECORD

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-11 of 11 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY