Abstract
This article describes a study of procalcitonin (PCT) measured in cord blood as a discriminating marker of early-onset neonatal infection. This was a monocenter retrospective study with prospective collection of data including all babies born during the study period. Those presenting infection risk factors had PCT measurement. Three groups were defined: certainly infected, probably infected, and non-infected. A total of 12,485 newborns were included, 2151 had PCT measurement, and 26 were infected. Receiver operating curves of PCT determined 0.6 ng/ml as the best cut-off, with an area under the curve of 0.96 (CI 95% 0.95–0.98). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and positive and negative likelihood ratios were 0.92 (range, 0.75–0.98), 0.97 (0.96–0.98), 0.28 (0.20–0.36), 0.99 (0.99–0.99), 32 (24–41) and 0.08 (0.02–0.3), respectively. Post-test probabilities were 28% (23–33) if the test was positive, and less than 0.001% (0–1.10-5) if the test was negative. Gestational age between 28 and 32 weeks (OR 4.4; range, 1.2–16.2) and pH at birth < 7.10 (OR 2.9; 1.1–7.4) were other independent factors of increasing PCT (p < 0.05). PCT measured in umbilical cord blood is reliable to detect early infected and non-infected newborns.
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BRAHMS Diagnostica provided a financial support for data collection but was not directly involved in this data collection, or in any part of the analysis or the preparation of the manuscript. We also thank Professor Martin Chalumeau for his help in preparing the manuscript.
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Joram, N., Muller, JB., Denizot, S. et al. Umbilical cord blood procalcitonin level in early neonatal infections: a 4-year university hospital cohort study. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 30, 1005–1013 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1187-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1187-0