Presepsin as a Novel Diagnostic Marker in Neonatal Septicemia

Abstract

Background: Neonatal septicemia is a serious life-threatening condition with high mortality. The accurate diagnosis of sepsis is one of the main challenges in emergency medicine. A great effort to reduce the neonatal mortality rate is put into looking for new reliable biomarkers. Among biomarkers, presepsin could be one of the most promising and reliable biomarker for early diagnosis of sepsis. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value ofpresepsin in the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Methodology: By chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA), the level of presepsin was assessed in 40 full term neonates with suspected sepsis (Proven sepsis group: 23 patients with +ve blood culture & Probable sepsis group: 17 patients with -ve blood culture) and15 healthy full term neonates. Results: Presepsin level was found to be significantly higher in patient group than control group as well as in proven sepsis group than probable sepsis group. The cut off value for presepsin was 875pg/ml at which the sensitivity and specificity of presepsin were (95.7%, 87.5%) respectively. Presepsin level was found to be significantly higher in females than males. There was no significant difference in the presepsin level as regard mode of delivery nor onset of sepsis. Conclusion: Presepsin is a novel biomarker with high sensitivity and good specificity for sepsis and its measurement can be useful for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.