USEFULNESS OF C-REACTIVE PROTEIN AS AN INDICATOR OF NEONATAL SEPSIS

Abstract

Objectives: To determine diagnostic usefulness of CRP to diagnose “neonatal sepsis (NS)”.

Study design: Validation study.

Place and duration of Study: “CMH, Rawalpindi from 15 Oct 2023 to 15 March 2024”.

Methodology: 107 neonates fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Two separate blood sample were taken. One sample was sent for CRP levels and other sample was sent for blood culture to make definitive diagnosis of “neonatal sepsis”. 2x2 table was drawn for calculating “sensitivity”, “specificity”, PPV, NPV and accuracy. Data was analyzed by SPSS 20.00.

Results: Mean gestational age at birth of 39.28 ± 1.57 weeks. There were 62 (57.94%) male and 45 (42.06%) female neonates. Mean birth weight of the neonates was 3.06 ± 0.35 kg. Frequency of neonates who were found to have “CRP > 5mg/dl” was 86 (80.37%) while total number of neonates who were found to have positive blood culture was 85 (79.44%). “Sensitivity”, “specificity”, PPV, NPV and accuracy of CRP to diagnose NS was 89.42%, 54.55%, 88.37%, 57.14% and 82.24%, respectively.

Conclusion: CRP is a highly useful test with high diagnostic accuracy to identify a case of “neonatal sepsis”.