[Prevalence of Gilbert's syndrome in Germany]

The prevalence of Gilbert's syndrome was studied in a randomized group of 1530 persons (785 men and 745 women, aged 20-40 years) living in the Heidelberg region of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was found to be present in 12.4% of men and 4.8% of women, i.e. a total of 8.6% for the entire group. In women the serum bilirubin level (mean 12.0 +/- 5.1 mumol/l) was significantly lower than in men (mean of 13.7 +/- 6.8 mumol/l; P less than 0.001). Analysing the frequency distribution of serum bilirubin revealed that patients with this syndrome do not constitute a population of its own, but rather form the upper end of the normative bilirubin distribution curve.