Procalcitonin as a marker of nosocomial infections in the neonatal intensive care unit

Objective: To determine accuracy of procalcitonin concentrations for diagnosing nosocomial infections in critically ill neonates. Design: Case-control study. Setting: Neonatal intensive care unit of a teaching hospital. Patients: Twenty-three neonates with nosocomial infection. Four controls matched for duration of hospital stay and birth date were chosen for each case patient. Measurements and results: PCT concentrations were measured by the LUMItest procalcitonin kit at onset of signs of infection and after recovery. Range of PCT concentrations (ng/ml) was 2.0 to 249.1 in case patients and 0.08 to 1.0 in controls (sensitivity and specificity, 100%). PCT values returned to normal (< 1.0 ng/ml) by day 3 to 7 of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Conclusions: Measurement of PCT concentrations may be useful for early diagnosis and monitoring of infectious complications in neonates during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit.