Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 3, 2026
Transcutaneous Microcirculatory Imaging in Preterm Neonates
Published on: December 31, 2015
Evaluation of Mean Platelet Volume and Platelet Distribution Width as an Early Marker of Neonatal Sepsis: A
Nisha R Aglave1, Rupali S Rokade2, Pooja Bhimshankar Nagrale1
1Department of Pediatrics, Datta Meghe Medical College, Datta Meghe Institute of Higher Education and Research, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
Background:
Neonatal sepsis (NS) is one of the greatest concerns in developing countries and the leading cause of mortality in the neonatal intensive care unit. Due to non-specific and overlapping signs, it poses a difficulty for early diagnosis of sepsis. Blood culture, though the gold standard for diagnosis of sepsis, takes at least 72 h to show positive growth. Early indicators are the need of the hour to predict NS, so that early empirical antibiotics could be initiated.
Aim Of The Study:
To evaluate Mean platelet volume (MPV) and Platelet distribution width (PDW) as early diagnostic marker of neonatal sepsis and to compare their values between septic and non septic neonates.
Subjects And Methods:
This was a prospective case-control study conducted in a tertiary care centre over a period of 1 year from January 2022 to December 2022. Fifty-three neonates who met the inclusion criteria according to the operational definition of NS were included as cases, while another 53 neonates served as controls. Blood culture, sepsis screen and platelet indices, mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW), were performed on all these babies. Relationship between various factors like gestational age, gender, onset of sepsis, blood culture and outcome, with MPV and PDW in cases and control were analysed.
Results:
During the study period, 53 neonates were included in the case group and 53 neonates in the control group. Early-onset sepsis (EOS) was more frequent in this study, with 32 (60.38%) neonates being diagnosed with EOS. Blood culture was positive in 26 out of 53 (49.06%) of cases, with the most frequent isolate being Burkholderia cepasia followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae. Gram-negative organisms were the most common organisms seen in 17 (65.38%) of cases with positive blood culture. Mean value of MPV and PDW in cases were 11.3 ± 2.26 and 57.20 ± 18.91, respectively, while that in the control group were 9.13 ± 1.30 and 47.73 ± 20.02, respectively, with P = 0.00001, which was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Receiver operating curve for MPV and PDW, considering blood culture as the gold standard, showed the area under the curve for MPV and PDW were 0.831 and 0.644, respectively.
Conclusions:
MPV and PDW are increased in neonates with sepsis, both in term and preterm. MPV is a better predictor of sepsis compared to PDW. So, both MPV and PDW can be used as a surrogate marker of NS and as a predictor of mortality.
