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Subject Area

Ophthalmology

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the serum amyloid A (SAA) as an early and accurate diagnostic marker in neonatal sepsis. Background The early and efficient diagnosis of neonatal sepsis in high-risk neonates remains a difficult task as the clinical signs are nonspecific, complete blood count parameters and C-reactive protein (CRP) have low sensitivity, also difficulty of its diagnosis may be due to decreased positive values of blood culture and long time which is needed for detection of blood culture results. The SAA protein level in the blood increases earlier and up to 1000-fold in response to inflammation. Participants and methods A case–control study was carried out on 50 septic newborns who were admitted to the Neonatal ICU, Benha Specialized Children Hospital. Patients were subdivided into confirmed (35 cases) and clinical (15 cases) septic groups as well as 25 sex-matched and age-matched neonates as a control group during the study period from April to November 2018. Full assessment of history, clinical examination, complete blood count, CRP, blood culture, and SAA protein were performed for all neonates. Results The mean value of SAA in the confirmed septic group (35 cases with elevated CRP and positive blood cultures) was 77.1 ± 5.5 μg/ml and that in the clinically septic group (15 cases with elevated CRP and negative blood cultures) was 18.5 ± 1.32 μg/ml compared with the control group (4.7 ± 1.1 μg/ml), and this represented a highly statistically significant difference (P = 0.000). Conclusion Serum amyloid A increases significantly in neonates with sepsis in comparison with healthy neonates. Therefore, SAA protein could aid the clinicians in diagnosing most cases of neonatal sepsis.

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