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.