Tachycardia as a sign of early onset neonatal sepsis

A prospective study in two parts was designed to assess tachycardia in neonates (less than 72 hours of age) and its role as an early indicator of neonatal sepsis. In Part I of the study we determined the incidence of tachycardia among all inborn neonates in 1 year, and in Part II we assessed the presence of tachycardia in inborn and outborn infants evaluated for sepsis. Twenty-one infants were tachycardic among 4530 live births (incidence, 4.64/1000). Ten tachycardic infants were septic. Of 82 infants who were evaluated for sepsis, 13 had proved sepsis, 12 of whom had tachycardia as one of their presenting symptoms. Of the remaining nonseptic infants 6 of 69 had tachycardia. There was a significant difference in the two groups (P less than 0.001). The results demonstrate that tachycardia is an important sign of neonatal sepsis.