Yellow Brains and Yellow Lungs

We read with interest the paper "Lack of Identifiable Risk Factors for Kernicterus" by Turkel and associates.1 In the last few years we have also noticed an increased incidence of kernicterus at Magee-Womens Hospital in the neonatal autopsy population. In a retrospective analysis of cases from 1976 to 1978, there were 35 cases of kernicterus among 284 neonates, a prevalence of 12%. This rose to almost 20% if we considered only the group of gestational age 25 to 32 weeks.