The Cut-off Point of Ferritin, Procalcitonin, and Serum CRP Levels in the Peripheral Blood of Neonates Suffering from Sepsis

Background: Sepsis is regarded as a critical clinical status in neonates. Since blood culture is a time-consuming method, the present study was conducted to investigate the serum level of Ferritin, Procalcitonin, and CRP in the peripheral blood of term neonates suspected with sepsis to have a quicker diagnosis for the disease. Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, a total of 60 neonates suspected with sepsis who had been hospitalized in Ali ibn Abi Talib Hospital of Rafsanjan/ Iran in 2015-2016 were randomly selected. Before conducting the treatment processes, blood samples were taken from all neonates and sent for blood culture. The intended markers were measured both before and after the treatments and the results were recorded in special forms for each neonate. Data were analyzed through SPSS20 and using chi-squared test, Paired t-test, and drawing a ROC curve for determining the best cut-off point and measuring the sensitivity and specificity. Results: In this study, 70% of the neonates suspected with sepsis were male, 56.7% were younger than 7 days old and 96.7% had natural weight. The most common symptoms were poor feeding and reduced sucking reflexes. Data analysis of the markers indicate that they reduced significantly after the treatment (p<0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, and the best cut-off point were respectively 64.3%, 43.5%, and 257.8 for Ferritin, 78.6%, 50%, and 23 for Procalcitonin and 85.7%, 65.2%, and 21.5 for CRP. Conclusion: According to the obtained findings, applying these markers can be of a great use in diagnosing neonatal sepsis. However, given the low sensitivity and specificity of Ferritin, Procalcitonin and CRP in the present study, further studies need to be conducted to obtain more definite results.