Rates of Extreme Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia and Kernicterus in Children and Adherence to National Guidelines for Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment in Sweden

Hazardous hyperbilirubinemia in near-term or term newborns still occurs in Sweden and was associated with disabling brain damage in 13 per million births. For most of these cases, health care professional noncompliance with best practices was identified, suggesting that a substantial proportion of these cases might have been avoided.