Diagnostic Performance of Mean Neutrophil Volume in Neonatal Sepsis

This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of mean neutrophil volume (MNV) in culture-positive neonatal sepsis. MNV (index test), measured using an automated hematology analyzer, was compared to blood culture (reference test) in a study including 535 neonates; 86 were culture-positive sepsis, 192 were probable sepsis, and 257 were not septic. The median (Q1, Q3) MNV (fL) was higher in culture-positive septic neonates compared to non-septic neonates [154 (152, 157) vs. 136 (133, 143), P = 0.001]. MNV > 151 fL diagnosed sepsis with 84.8% sensitivity, 89.4% specificity, 76% positive predictive value, and 94.7% negative predictive value with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.950 (95% CI 0.921, 0.971) suggesting it as a useful diagnostic tool for culture-positive neonatal sepsis.