Objective: This study tried to assess sensitivity, specificity,
positive and negative predictive value of procalcitonin for diagnosis
of neonatal bacterial infections. Methods: This prospective cross
sectional study was carried out during an 18-month period in NICU and
neonatal wards of Besat Hospital in Hamedan province, Iran. 39
symptomatic infants with clinical and laboratory findings in favor of
bacterial infection with a positive blood, CSF, and/or supra pubic
urine culture entered the study; 32 newborns without any bacterial
infection served as control group. Quantitative procalcitonin level
≥0.5 ng/ml was accepted as pathological. Finally sensitivity,
specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were
calculated for procalcitonin test. Findings: 20 blood cultures, 17
urine cultures and 8 CSF cultures were positive. Sensitivity,
specificity, PPV and NPV for procalcitonin test was 76.9%, 100%, 100%
and 78% respectively. Diagnostic value of procalcitonin test in
accordance with blood culture for mentioned items was 85%, 100%, 100%
and 91.4% respectively. Its diagnostic value according to urine culture
was: sensitivity 70.6%, specificity 100%, PPV 100% and NPV 86.4%, and
according to CSF culture was: sensitivity 75%, specificity 100%, PPV
100% and NPV 94.1% respectively. Conclusion: The results show that the
procalcitonin test has high sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for
diagnosis of neonatal infections
