Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain in children with chronic kernicterus

Advances in perinatal monitoring and early treatment for hyperbilirubinemia in high-risk patients have greatly reduced the incidence of kernicterus. Findings on MRI in patients with kernicterus are characteristic. The most characteristic pattern of neuropathological lesions in kernicterus is symmetric and highly selective involvement of the basal ganglia. In this study, we report the MRI findings in 2 infants with clinical and laboratory evidence of kernicterus.