Presepsin as a novel diagnostic marker in neonatal septicemia

Neonatal septicemia is a serious life-threatening condition with high mortality. The accurate diagnosis of sepsis is one of the main challenges in emergency medicine. A great effort to reduce the neonatal mortality rate is put into looking for new reliable biomarkers. Among biomarkers, presepsin could be one of the most promising and reliable biomarker for early diagnosis of sepsis. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of presepsin in the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. By chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay [CLEIA], the level of presepsin was assessed in 40 full term neonates with suspected sepsis [Proven sepsis group: 23 patients with +ve blood culture and Probable sepsis group: 17 patients with -ve blood culture] and15 healthy full term neonates. Presepsin level was found to be significantly higher in patient group than control group as well as in proven sepsis group than probable sepsis group. The cut off value for presepsin was 875pg/ml at which the sensitivity and specificity of presepsin were [95.7%, 87.5%] respectively. Presepsin level was found to be significantly higher in females than males. There was no significant difference in the presepsin level as regard mode of delivery nor onset of sepsis. Presepsin is a novel biomarker with high sensitivity and good specificity for sepsis and its measurement can be useful for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

Mycoplasma duo test versus conventional culture media for detection of ureaplasma in endotracheal aspirates from respiratory distressed premature neonates

This work aimes to evaluate the Mycoplasma Duo kit as a rapid method for detection of ureaplasma in endotracheal aspirate samples from respiratory distressed premature neonates compared to conventional culture media. Also its sensitivity and specificity were determined. This study was carried on 60 premature neonates [less than 35 gestational weeks] suffering from respiratory distress and mechanically ventilated in neonatal intensive care unit.From all cases paired endotracheal aspirate samples were collected aseptically and were transported in ureaplasma transport media to the laboratory and processed immediately. One of each pair of the collected samples was cultured in both Ureaplasma agar and broth cultures and others were cultured in Mycoplasma Duo kit.The number of ureaplasma detected with both ureaplasma agar and broth cultures are 20 cases [33.33%] while those detected by Mycoplasma DUO kit are 22 cases [36.67%].The Sensitivity of Mycoplasma Duo kit compared with both Ureaplasma agar and broth cultures is [100%] and specificity is [95%].There is a highly significant difference [P-value < 0.001] between Mycoplasma Duo kit and Ureaplasma agar and broth cultures as regards the incubation time taken to get a result by both tests