Clinical significance of procalcitonin in neonate with severe infection

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of procalcitonin(PCT) in the early diagnosis of severe neonatal infections.Methods PCT was measured for 67 neonates in the neonatal department of our hospital,then compared with C-reactive protein(CRP) and WBC.According to the results,the 67 neonates were divided into severe infection group,local-infection and non-infection group.Results If plasma PCT≥0.5ng/mL was taken as positive,the positive rates in severe infection,local-infection,non-infection group were 88.46%,38.10%,15.00% respectively.The positive rate of severe infection group was significantly higher than that of the other 2 groups(P0.01),also the difference was found in CRP positive rate(P0.01),but not in WBC count.The diagnostic sensitivity,Youden's index,positive and negative predictive value of PCT in severe infection disease were higher than those of CRP and WBC.Conclusion PCT may be the high sensitive and specific marker in the early diagnosis of severe neonatal infections.