Fibronectin levels in premature infants with late-onset sepsis

Physical features do not reliably distinguish premature infants with bacterial infections from those with noninfectious conditions. We evaluated the association of depressed plasma fibronectin with sepsis among hospitalized very low birth weight infants (< 1500 gm). Reference values were determined by sequential plasma sampling from 60 healthy very low birth weight infants. Among 17 very low birth weight infants with proved late-onset sepsis (mean age, 20 days; range, 10 to 42 days), 9 had plasma fibronectin levels more than 1 SD below the age- and birth weight-associated mean. Overall, the sensitivity and specificity of the finding of depressed fibronectin levels were 53% and 94%, respectively. These data suggest that depression of plasma fibronectin occurs commonly in association with late-onset sepsis among hospitalized premature infants.