[Cord blood procalcitonin in the assessment of early-onset neonatal sepsis]

Introduction: Early diagnosis of early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) is essential to reduce morbidity and mortality. Procalcitonin (PCT) in cord blood could provide a diagnosis of infected patients from birth.

Objective: To study the usefulness and safety of a procedure for the evaluation of newborns at risk of EONS, based on the determination of PCT in cord blood.

Patients and methods: Neonates with infectious risk factors, born in our hospital from October 2013 to January 2015 were included. They were processed according to an algorithm based on the values of cord blood procalcitonin (< 0.6ng/ml versus ≥0.6ng/ml). They were later classified as proved infection, probable, or no infection.

Results and conclusions: Of the 2,519 infants born in the study period, 136 met inclusion criteria. None of 120 cases with PCT<0.6ng/ml in cord blood developed EONS (100% negative predictive value). On the other hand, of the 16 cases with PCT ≥0.6ng/ml, 10 were proven or probably infected (62.5% positive predictive value). The sensitivity of the PCT against infection was 100%, with a specificity of 95.2% (area under the receiver operator curve 0.969). The incidence of infection in the study group was 7.4%, and 26.1% in cases with maternal chorioamnionitis. 21 newborn (15.4%) received antibiotic therapy. The studied protocol has shown to be effective and safe to differentiate between patients with increased risk of developing an EONS, in those where the diagnostic and therapeutic approach was more interventionist, versus those with less likelihood of sepsis, who would benefit from a more conservative management.