The Predictive Value of Procalcitonin and High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein for Early Bacterial Infections in Preterm Neonates

Introduction: Evidence on the reliability of using procalcitonin (PCT) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) as diagnostic markers for early-onset neonatal bacterial infections is still insufficient because of their physiological elevation during the early neonatal period. This study aimed to assess the respiratory influence of serum PCT and hs-CRP levels and evaluate their predictive value for bacterial infections during the first 72 h of life in preterm neonates. Methods: The preterm neonates enrolled in this single-center retrospective cohort study were categorized into 3 groups: reference, infection-unlikely respiratory failure, and probable bacterial infection; their serum PCT and hs-CRP levels were assessed. Subsequently, age-specific 95th percentile curves were plotted and the median and cutoff PCT and hs-CRP levels for predicting bacterial infections at birth and 7–18, 19–36, and 37–72 h after birth were determined. Moreover, the analysis of PCT and hs-CRP with a neonatal sequential organ failure assessment (nSOFA) score was performed in very low birth weight neonates. Results: Serum PCT levels were influenced by respiratory failure. A significant difference was found in the median PCT and hs-CRP levels among the 3 groups at each time point. PCT sensitivities for predicting bacterial infection were slightly higher than those of hs-CRP in each time frame during the first 72 h of life. In both PCT and hs-CRP, there was no significant difference between infants with nSOFA scores of >4 and those with nSOFA scores of ≤4. Discussion/Conclusion: Age-specific evaluation showed that PCT has better predictive value than hs-CRP for early-onset bacterial infections in preterm neonates.