Evaluation of procalcitonin on infection diagnosis for neonates

Objective To evaluate procalcitonin(PCT) on infection diagnosis for neonates.Methods Eightytwo hospitalized neonates were divided into septicemia group(n=21),local infection group(n=25)and non-infection group(n=36),and to compare their PCT,c-reactive protein(CRP) level and white blood cell(WBC) count and then to analyze these positive rates of PCT,CRP and WBC and their sensitivity,specificity,positive predict value(PPV),negative predict value(NPV) as well as accuracy which used to diagnose neonatal septicemia in three groups.Results The positive rates of PCT in septicemia group,local infection group and non-infection group were 90.48%,56.00% and 8.33% respectively,and the differences between septicemia group and non-infection group,local infection group and non-infection group,as well as septicemia group and local infection group were significant(P0.001).There was a positive correlation between the severity of infection and serum level of PCT.If 2.0 ng/mL was taken as the critical value,the sensitivity and specificity of PCT for the diagnosis of septicemia were 71.43% and 98.36% respectively,which were much higher than that of CRP.Conclusion PCT have a higher sensitivity and specificity for early infection diagnosis of neonates.Compared with CRP,PCT is of more advantage.