Sensitivity and Specificity of Procalcitonin in Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis

Background and objective: according to the fact that neonatal infection is a challenging diagnosis field, several studies have tried to test sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests, this study was conducted to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of procalcitonin (pct) as a single early marker of neonatal sepsis.materials and methods: in this study, 150 neonates admitted to nicu and neonatal ward in shahrekord hajar hospital were enrolled. a full workup including blood cultureand other tests and pct was conductede. sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for pct was determined.results: it was found out that 8 patients had definite infection, 15 patients had possible infection,and 127 patients had no infection. although pct was not able to significantly differentiatebetween those with definite and possible infections (p>0.05), but there· was a significant difference for frequency of abnormal pct between non-infectious patients and other patients. sensitivity,specificity, positive and negative predictive values of pct was 87.5%, 87.4%, 30.4 (yo , 99.1%, and 87.41% respectively.conclusion: beside the limitation of the sample size, the satisfactory diagnostic characteristics of pct highlight it as a good measure for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. further studies are essentialto be carried out.