Evaluation of Diagnostic Markers of Early Onset Neonatal Sepsis

Abstract

Background: Early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis decreases morbidity and mortality in neonates. Recently, serum procalcitonin (PCT) has been investigated as a new marker for the detection of bacterial infection. Objectives: to evaluate procalcitonin (PCT) as an early marker of neonatal infections, and to compare procalcitonin with interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), hematological scoring systems (HSS). Methods: This cross sectional study included 90 neonates divided into three groups: 30 neonates as proved septic group, 30 neonates as suspected septic group and 30 healthy control neonates. All studied neonates were investigated at age of 1-2 days of life for serum PCT, IL-6, CRP, hematological score by using HSS. Results: Serum PCT, IL-6, CRP were significantly elevated in septic groups in comparison to the control group. The area under the ROC curve for PCT was 0.97, with specificity of 96.7%, sensitivity of 93.3%. Negative predictive value of 93.5% positive predictive value of 96.6%, diagnostic efficacy of 95%, which is significantly higher than that of IL-6 and CRP. No correlation was found between PCT, IL-6, CRP. HSS was not an early tool for diagnosing of neonatal sepsis. Conclusion: PCT is superior to IL-6 and CRP in diagnosis of EONS Kew words: C-reactive protein, Hematological scoring system, Interleukin-6, Procalcitonin.