Phenobarbitone sensitivity of jaundice in haemolytic patients

Eleven cases of chronic haemolytic jaundice treated with phenobarbitone are reported. In all patients, except one, the drug caused a significant reduction of hyperbilirubinaemia in spite of the persistence of an increased haemolysis. Radioactive bilirubin (3H) kinetic studies demonstrated a bilirubin transfer defect from plasma to liver in seven patients which improved after phenobarbitone therapy along with the reduction of bilirubinaemia. It is concluded that a phenobarbitone-sensitive hepatic mechanism frequently operates in producing jaundice in chronic haemolytic syndromes.