title: Predictive values for procalcitonin in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.
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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Procalcitonin is a sensitive, independent, and useful biomarker in comparison to CRP in early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.
authors.affiliation: MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, El Minya University, Minya, Egypt.
authors.forename: Abdel Hakeem Abdel
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Mohsen
authors.affiliation: MD, Lecturer, Departments of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, El Minya University, Minya, Egypt.
authors.forename: Bothina Ahmed
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Kamel
keywords: C-reactive protein; Neonatal sepsis; Procalcitonin