Diagnostic value of procalcitonin for neonatal infections

Objective To explore the clinical significance of serum procalcitonin(PCT)for neonatal infections.Methods A total of 223cases of neonatal patients,including 43cases of sepsis,89cases of local infection and 59cases of non-bacterial infection,treated in Department of Neonatology from March 2009to August 2012,and 32 cases of healthy newborns were enrolled.Serum levels of PCT were compared between each group,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was prepared to evaluate the diagnostic value of PCT.Results Serum levels of PCT in non-bacterial infection group,local bacterial infection group and sepsis group were(0.22±0.23),(1.16±1.25) and(13.85±6.54)ng/mL separately,which were all higher than the(0.22±0.29)ng/mL of healthy control group. Serum levels of PCT in local infection group and sepsis group were positively correlated with the amount of white blood cells(WBC).Taking 0.95ng/mL as cut-off value,the sensitivity and specificity of PCT for the diagnosis of neonatal infections were 95.3% and 93.7%.When bacterial infections were controlled,serum levels of PCT decreased quickly to normal range,which was superior to WBC.Conclusion PCT could be used as indicator for early diagnosis of neonatal infections,and dynamic monitoring of PCT level might be helpful for evaluation of curative effect and guiding clinical medication.