Abstract

Background. In the last few years, serum procalcitonin has been proposed as an early marker of infections in newborns. The aim of our work was to access the value of PCT estimation in the first days of life in preterm neonates with early-onset infection compared to preterm uninfected newborns with non-infectious pathology like respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Material/Methods: PCT levels were measured in 48 preterm neonates divided into 2 groups: 1 – infected (32 cases) and 2 – uninfected (16 cases).Results: Marked increase in PCT concentrations were observed in the first group especially on the 2nd and 3rd day after delivery. Patients with early-onset infections had a significantly greater value of PCT concentration when compared with uninfected subjects with RDS (p

Keywords: procalcitonin, Infection, newborn