title: Cord blood procalcitonin and Interleukin-6 are highly sensitive and specific in the prediction of early-onset sepsis in preterm infants.
abstract: We studied the predictive value of cord blood procalcitonin (PCT) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the diagnosis of early-onset sepsis (EOS) in the preterm infant. Retrospectively, PCT and IL-6 were correlated with clinical and/or blood culture positive EOS and negative infectious status between February 2008 and March 2011. Receiver operating curves (ROC) were generated and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated by use of Youden's Index to detect the best cut-off values for sensitivity and specificity. Thirty of 218 preterm infants (13.8%) were diagnosed as having EOS. The optimal cut-off value for PCT was 0.235 μg/L (sensitivity 78.6%, specificity 86.3%), and for IL-6 15.85 ng/L (sensitivity 73.7%, specificity 84.2%), the combination of PCT and IL-6 revealed sensitivity 77.1% and specificity 91.7%. The combined determination of PCT and IL-6 from cord blood was highly sensitive and specific in the prediction of EOS.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Neonatal Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Graz , Austria.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Steinberger
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Resch
mesh_terms: D019540:Area Under Curve; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; C508600:IL6 protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide
keywords: Cord blood; early-onset sepsis; interleukin-6; preterm infant; procalcitonin