Limited diagnostic value of routine cord blood bilirubin determinations.

In a retrospective study, cord blood bilirubin levels of 87 neonates who received standard phototherapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia were compared with the cord bilirubin levels of 95 neonates without neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, none of whom received phototherapy. There were no significant differences in the cord bilirubin levels between the two groups. These results suggest that routine determination of cord blood bilirubin levels is neither necessary nor cost effective.