Comparison of serum procalcitonin level and blood culture results in neonatal septicemia

Objective To study the diagnostic value of serum procalcitonin( PCT) in neonatal bacterial bloodstream infection. Methods Using retrospective analysis,512 cases of newborns were divided into neonatal septicemia group,group with high risk factors of septicemia and group without hisk risk factors of septicemia. Meanwhile,16 healthy newborns in the same period were taken as the control group. The relationship between blood culture results and serum PCT level was studied,and the serum PCT concentrations in gram negative bacteria and gram positive bacteria were compared. Results The level of PCT was significantly higher in sepsis group than that in other groups,and the difference was statistically significant( P 0. 05). The positive rates of PCT and blood culture were 76. 5% and 39. 2% respectively in sepsis group. Taking blood culture results as control, the sensitivity of PCT was 85. 7%,the specificity was 77. 3%,the positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 41. 3%,96. 7%. The positive rates of PCT in gram negative bacteria and gram positive bacteria were 95. 5% and 75. 0%. Conclusion The detection of PCT level is helpful for rapid differentiation of neonatal sepsis and diagnosis of bloodstream infection.