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Updated: Jul 15, 2025
A Neonatal Imaging Model of Gram-Negative Bacterial Sepsis
Published on: August 12, 2020
Early Diagnostic Markers of Late-Onset Neonatal Sepsis
Preslava Gatseva1,2, Alexander Blazhev3, Zarko Yordanov4
1Department of Pediatrics, Medical University Pleven, 5800 Pleven, Bulgaria.
Objective:
Early diagnosis of nosocomial infections in newborns is a great challenge, because in the initial phase of systemic infection, clinical symptoms are often non-specific, and routinely used hematological markers are not sufficiently informative. The aim of this study was to determine the potential of early inflammatory markers to diagnose late-onset neonatal sepsis-procalcitonin (PCT), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and endocan (ESM-1).
Material And Methods:
A prospective clinical-epidemiological study was conducted in a third-level NICU in Pleven, Bulgaria. Patients with suspected late-onset sepsis and healthy controls were tested. A sandwich ELISA method was used to measure the serum concentrations of biomarkers.
Results:
Sixty newborns were included, of which 35% symptomatic and infected, 33.3% symptomatic but uninfected and 31.7% asymptomatic controls. The mean values of PCT, IL-6, I/T index and PLT differ significantly in the three groups. For ESM-1, IL-8 and CRP, the difference was statistically insignificant. The best sensitivity (78%) and negative predictive value (84%) was found for IL-6. The combinations of PCT + IL-6 and PCT + IL-6+ I/T+ PLT showed very good diagnostic potential.
Conclusion:
The introduction into the routine practice of indicators such as PCT and IL-6 may provide an opportunity to promptly optimize the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to LOS.
