Premium
Procalcitonin and C‐reactive protein as biomarkers for neonatal bacterial infection
Author(s) -
Quadir Ashfaque F,
Britton Philip N
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.13931
Subject(s) - procalcitonin , medicine , sepsis , neonatal sepsis , c reactive protein , intensive care medicine , context (archaeology) , neonatal infection , systematic review , critical appraisal , medline , immunology , pathology , inflammation , alternative medicine , pregnancy , paleontology , genetics , political science , law , biology
Aim Neonates are predisposed to bacterial infection which are an important cause of early childhood morbidity and mortality globally. It has been proposed that procalcitonin has significant utility as a diagnostic marker for bacterial infection in febrile neonates when compared to C‐reactive protein (CRP). The aim of this study is to conduct a literature search to find the best available evidence to answer the clinical question of the utility of procalcitonin when compared to CRP as a predictor of bacterial infection in febrile neonates. Methods Medline/PubMed was searched using the terms ‘procalcitonin’, ‘C‐reactive protein’, ‘bacterial infection’ and ‘neonatal sepsis’. Three systematic reviews relevant to the clinical question were identified and the key article selected for critical appraisal was the systematic review by Yu et al . (2010). Results The appraised literature concludes that procalcitonin has moderate accuracy in diagnosing neonatal sepsis, but suggests it should be considered only within the context of other clinical parameters and other relevant investigations. The studies included in the systematic review were of variable quality, showed considerable heterogeneity in their methods and evidence of possible publication bias. Conclusion Further research is required before definitive recommendations can be made about the utility of procalcitonin compared with CRP as a diagnostic marker for neonatal sepsis and bacterial infection in clinical practice.