THE BRONZE BABY SYNDROME - EVIDENCE OF INCREASED TISSUE CONCENTRATIONOF COPPER PORPHYRINS

A case regarding a newborn infant with severe Rh haemolytic disease, w ho presented with the bronze baby syndrome and eventually died, is rep orted. The postmortem examination showed marked extramedullary haemato poiesis in the liver and spleen, heavy hepatic haemosiderosis and mild intralobular cholestasis. The porphyrin content, which was assayed in different tissues, was very high in the liver, suggesting that the in creased erythropoiesis seen in Rh haemolytic disease leads to an incre ased synthesis of porphyrins as by-products of haem synthesis. Phototh erapy causes photodestruction, sensitized by bilirubin, of porphyrins (mainly copper porphyrins), yielding brown photoproducts.