Diagnostic value of procalationin in neonatal infection disease

Objective To study the value of procalationin (PCT) in neonatal infection disease diagnosis. Methods PCT was measured in 118 neonates in neonatal department of our hospital, then compared with C-reactive protein (CRP). According to the results, the 118 neonates were divided into three groups; severe infection group (n=51) , local infection (n=37) and non- infection group (n=30). Results PCT positive rate in the severe infection group (86. 27%) was higher than the other two (37. 84%, 16. 67%) (P0. 01), also difference was found in CRP positive rate (x2 = 8. 51, P0. 01). Diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of PCT in severe infection disease were higher than CRP regarding 2 ng/ml as the cut-off value for PCT. Conclusions Serum PCT increases early in bacterium infection disease,therefore it can be used as a marker in the early stage of the neonatal infection disease diagnosis. Its value is better than CRP. PCT can be used to evaluate the treatment and predict the prognosisas it is well correlated with the severity of the infectious disease.