Evaluation of Haematological Parameters and Uric Acid in the Diagnosis of Late Onset Neonatal Sepsis

Introduction A number of parameters studied in a whole blood count can be helpful in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. The platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is a systemic inflammatory marker in early sepsis and has been used as a diagnostic indicator in cardiovascular events and cancer. Being one of the major antioxidants in human biological fluids, serum uric acid is responsible for neutralising free radicals. The red cell distribution width/platelet ratio (RPR) is a diagnostic marker in adult inflammatory diseases. The objective of our study is to investigate the relationship of late neonatal sepsis with whole blood count parameters and serum uric acid levels. Materials and methods Newborns older than postnatal three days who had clinical and laboratory findings of sepsis were included in the study. The study included 140 newborns who were divided into three groups, 53 in the culture-proven late sepsis group, 47 in the clinical sepsis group, and 40 in the healthy control group. The whole blood count parameters and serum uric acid levels were examined in both the clinical sepsis and proven sepsis patients at the time when they were diagnosed with sepsis. Results The birth week was significantly lower in the evidenced and clinical sepsis patients compared to the healthy control group. Development of late sepsis was significantly higher in the male gender than in healthy controls. Serum uric acid levels were significantly higher in proven or clinical sepsis than in healthy controls. The level of serum uric acid (3.77±1.6) in proven sepsis was significantly higher than the control group (2.83±1.1). The uric acid level had an area under the curve (AUC) 0.552-0.717, 35% sensitivity, 95% specificity, 94.6% positive predictive value (PPV), and 36.9% negative predictive value (NPV) in the diagnosis of proven and clinical late sepsis. Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was significantly higher in proven sepsis than in healthy newborns and was higher in the clinical sepsis group than in the proven sepsis group (p: 0.002). While the mean eosinophil value was 618.5±472.1 in proven sepsis, it was 549.3±294.9 in the control group and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p: 0.036). Conclusion In late-onset neonatal sepsis, the NLR level was higher, and the eosinophil level was lower in the clinical sepsis patients than in healthy newborns. We believe that a higher level of serum uric acid in sepsis is effective in the early diagnosis of patients who also had other clinical findings of sepsis.