Rare Diseases Symptoms Automatic Extraction

Procalcitonin as a marker of respiratory disorder in neonates.

[congenital diaphragmatic hernia]

Serum procalcitonin (PCT) increases in various respiratory disorders such as acuterespiratory distress syndrome. Elevated PCT levels are also observed in healthy neonates. In this study, we analyzed if PCT levels were good markers of respiratory disorders in neonates.A total of 155 neonates with or without respiratory disorders, were eligible for the study. PCT level was measured by performing electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Each neonate was allocated to the non-respiratory disorder (control) group (n = 95), or a respiratory disorder group (n = 60). PCT levels were compared between both groups, and association with other markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell (WBC) count, was analyzed.The 60 neonates in the respiratory disorder group comprised 39, 10, 5, 1, 2, 2, and 1 neonates with transient tachypnea of the newborn, respiratory distress syndrome, air leak syndrome, meconium aspiration syndrome, 18-trisomy, neonatal asphyxia, and congenital diaphragmatic hernia, respectively. Mean PCT and CRP levels and WBC counts in the respiratory disorder group were 9.01 ng/mL, 0.26 mg/dL, and 16,100 cells/μL, respectively. The area under the curve obtained for PCT in distinguishing between the respiratory disorder and control groups was 0.85 (sensitivity, 66.7%; specificity, 93.0%; optimum cutoff, 3.73 ng/mL), for CRP it was 0.72 (sensitivity, 75.0%; specificity, 64.6%; optimum cutoff, 0.14 mg/dL), and for WBC it was 0.44 (sensitivity, 60.0%; specificity, 29.6%; optimum cutoff, 15,000 cells/μL).PCT is more susceptible as a diagnostic parameter of infection to the effect of respiratory disturbance than CRP and WBC.