PROCALCITONIN AND C-REACTIVE PROTEIN-LEVELS IN NEONATAL INFECTIONS

In order to assess the potential of procalcitonin measurement in the m anagement of neonatal sepsis, daily variations in serum procalcitonin (measured by an immunoluminometric assay) were evaluated in 94 control and infected newborn infants in comparison to C-reactive protein (mea sured by an immunonephelometric method). High levels of procalcitonin correlated with bacterial invasion and showed no discrepancies with C- reactive protein. Procalcitonin increased (up to 400 mu g l(-1)) and r eturned to the normal range (< 0.1 mu g l(-1)) more quickly than C-rea ctive protein, suggesting that procalcitonin may be an early marker of favourable outcome. Another finding is a significant procalcitonin pe ak on the first day of life in the control group, independent of any i nfectious stimulus. In conclusion, procalcitonin seems to be an intere sting marker of neonatal sepsis but additional investigations are need ed to understand better its mechanism of synthesis in order to determi ne its clinical usefulness.