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Urinary tract infections in infants: comparison between those with conjugated vs unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia.

Lee HC, Fang SB, Yeung CY, Tsai JD

Department of Paediatrics, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taiwan; Department of Paediatrics, Taipei Medical Uinversity, Taiwan.

AIMS: The aim was to investigate conjugated and unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia in association with urinary tract infection (UTI) in young infants. METHODS: Fifty infants aged <3 mths who developed prolonged jaundice among 2128 infants with UTI from 1984 to 2004 were enrolled retrospectively. They were divided into conjugated (n=22) and unconjugated (n=28) hyperbilirubinaemia groups and the clinical variables between the two were compared. RESULTS: Compared with the unconjugated group, the conjugated hyperbilirubinaemia group had statistically significantly lower haemoglobin (1.57 vs 1.80 micromol/L), higher aspartate aminotransferase (96 vs 32.5 U/L) and alanine aminotransferase (81.5 vs 16 U/L), were older on admission (48.0 vs 32.5 days), had a longer duration of jaundice before treatment (43.5 vs 30 days) and a higher incidence of E. coli infections (19/22 vs 15/28). The direct/total bilirubin ratio was linearly correlated with duration of jaundice before treatment (p=0.004). The most significant cut-off value for the duration of jaundice vis-à-vis the type of jaundice was 38 days (p=0.007). Patients who on presentation had had jaundice for >44 days (p=0.007) were unlikely to have unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia. CONCLUSIONS: Infants with UTI may present with unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia in the early stage. After 6 weeks, it is always conjugated hyperbilirubinaemia and is frequently associated with anaemia, elevated hepatic aminotransferases and E. coli infections.

Published 21 November 2005 in Ann Trop Paediatr, 25(4): 277-82.
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