Maternal venous procalcitonin levels do not correlate with umbilical cord blood and venous blood concentrations in the neonate.
BACKGROUND
To compare procalcitonin (PCT) concentrations between maternal blood and levels in umbilical cord or venous blood of neonates who were born with or without infection.


METHODS
Forty-six women with singleton pregnancies, complicated by premature rupture of membranes, preterm delivery and/or chorioamnionitis, were enrolled in this study. The study group comprised 15 patients and their infected newborns. The control group consisted of 31 women and their healthy newborns. We compared PCT concentrations between maternal, umbilical cord and neonatal serum, in both study and control groups. Additionally, PCT levels were compared between the corresponding compartments.


RESULTS
PCT concentrations in the umbilical cord and venous blood in infected newborns, but not in non-infected neonates, were significantly higher than maternal serum PCT levels. PCT concentrations of mothers who delivered infected newborns were comparable to those in the controls. However, PCT concentrations in the umbilical cord and in the venous blood of the infected newborns were higher than in healthy newborns.


CONCLUSIONS
Measurement of maternal PCT concentration during labor does not contribute to early prediction of infection in the neonate. However, umbilical cord PCT concentrations, as well as its neonatal venous levels on the second day of life, seem to be related to intrauterine infection, and may be a useful tool in the diagnosis of early neonatal infection.
Kordek
Agnieszka
A
Department of Obstetrics and Perinatology, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland. agkordek@sci.pam.szczecin.pl
Torbé
Andrzej
A
Czajka
Ryszard
R
D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D002821:Chorioamnionitis / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D005322:Premature Rupture of Fetal Membranes / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood*; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000097:blood; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*
D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide