Procalcitonin: a marker of neonatal sepsis.
This study was designed to assess the value of procalcitonin in establishing the diagnosis and evaluating the prognosis of neonatal sepsis. Thirty-four infants with neonatal sepsis were included in the study. Procalcitonin values of the cases with sepsis were (2.21 +/- 2.48 ng/ml) significantly higher than the values in the control group (0.71 +/- 0.5 ng/ml; p = 0.01). On the 7th day of therapy neonates who had achieved clinical recovery had a significant decrease of procalcitonin levels (0.55 +/- 0.27 ng/ml) compared to the initial values (p = 0.001). Initial mean procalcitonin levels of the cases resulting in death were 4.31 +/- 3.66 g/ml. This was significantly higher than the initial values of the patients who had clinical recovery (1.18 +/- 1.24 ng/ml;p = 0.02). Procalcitonin is a valuable marker for diagnosis, for evaluating prognosis and response to therapy in neonatal sepsis.
Athhan
Füsun
F
Pediatric Department, Dr Behçet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
Akagündüz
Birsen
B
Genel
Ferah
F
Bak
Mustafa
M
Can
Demet
D
D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide