Mohsen AHA, Kamel BA. Predictive values for procalcitonin in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.
Electron Physician 2015;
7:1190-5. [PMID:
26396733 PMCID:
PMC4578539 DOI:
10.14661/2015.1190-1195]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2015] [Accepted: 07/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis followed by appropriate treatment decreases mortality and morbidity in infants. The aim of this study is to assess the role of procalcitonin (PCT) as a marker in the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.
METHODS
We present a cross sectional study where 35 neonates with early onset sepsis (admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Units at El-Minia Children University Hospital from August 2012 to August 2013) were included in the study. Another 35 healthy neonates with no clinical or biological data of infection were included as a control group. Subjects were subjected to a thorough history taking and routine laboratory investigations. Serum PCT and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
RESULTS
Mean levels of PCT and CRP in neonates with sepsis were significantly higher than in the control group (p=0.0001). There was a moderate, but significant, positive correlation between PCT and C-reactive protein (p=0.001, r=0.55) and an insignificant correlation between procalcitonin and total leukocytic count among the neonates with sepsis (p=0.2, r=0.2). In addition, procalcitonin had high sensitivity, specificity, a high positive predictive value, and a high negative predictive value (80%, 85.7%, 84.8%, and 81.1% respectively). Procalcitonin showed higher sensitivity when compared to CRP.
CONCLUSION
Procalcitonin is a sensitive, independent, and useful biomarker in comparison to CRP in early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.
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