• Raúl Bustos B and Heriberto Araneda C.
• Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos, Hospital Guillermo Grant Benavente, Concepción, Chile. robustos64@yahoo.com.ar
• Rev Chilena Infectol. 2012 Oct 1;29(5):511-6.

UnlabelledProcalcitonin (PCT), a prohormone of calcitonin has been described as a specific biomarker of sepsis.ObjectivesTo compare the predictive value of PCT, C reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell count (WBC) for the diagnosis of late onset sepsis (LOS) in very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates.MethodsWe prospectively determined the serum concentration of PCT, CRP and WBC in 53 VLBW newborns with clinical suspicion of LOS. 25 had confirmed sepsis with positive blood culture; 28 had clinical sepsis (negative blood cultures)ResultsPCT levels were significantly higher in the infected group (3.0 ng/ml) compared to the non infected group (0.4 ng/ml) (p < 0.05). PCT had the highest area under the ROC curve 0.83 (95% CI 0.70-0.92) p = 0.001 compared to CRP 0.51 (95%CI 0.37-0.65) and WBC 0.53 (95%CI 0.38-0.66) for the diagnosis of LOS .The best PCT cut off value was 0.9 ng/ml. The sensitivity, specificity and negative predictive value were 88%, 72% and 87%, respectively.ConclusionsThe determination of PCT could be more useful than CRP and WBC in the diagnosis of LOS in VLBW newborns.

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