Bilirubin

Our 1 month old grandson still had yellow eyes, so they drew a blood sample- the bilirubin was 9.0, but they said it was not the normal infant elevated bilirubin, but the "other" kind- I assume they are talking about direct rather than indirect. They will be doing another blood draw tomorrow to reconfirm the results, and check liver enzymes. What are some possible problems? Mother and baby have the same blood type. Thanks

[Sneezy]

I'm new to the site, but have knowledge of a very serious liver disease in which my infant son was operated on @ 7 wks of age and is now 15 years old and his liver functions, done 2 weeks ago, "are lower than they've been in the past."  He was jaundiced @ 6 weeks of age.  The pediatrician saw him & casually sent him to Children's Hospital vs. our local hospital just to ease my mind.  Well, it took about a week & multitudes of testing, but he was diagnosed with biliary atresia.  It is a disease where the bile ducts are nonfunctioning or nonexistent from the liver to intestines.  

Your grandchild could have some other problem & I hope he does. But in the case of biliary atresia, time is definitely of the essence.  May I suggest if you do not have an excellent phsyician, get one.  My son's bilirubin was high, his liver enzymes were up, he was very jaundiced, with pale colored, cottage cheese looking stools.  I know his liver enzymes were high also.  I can't remember details of labs, etc., but I do know if it weren't for his doctors & surgeon acting so quickly (& it still took a week to diagnose & do kasai procedure surgery) he would not be alive today.  If he would have biliary atresia, surgery (kasai procedure) is most successful if done by 6 to 8 weeks of age.

I hope this helps you somewhat.  Good luck.  God bless.