ABSTRACT
Objective: To find out the diagnostic accuracy of mean platelet volume (MPV) in neonatal sepsis by taking blood culture as a gold standard.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study was carried out at Hematology Department, Combined Military Hospital, Lahore from May 2019 to August 2020. Two hundred and five neonates of either gender aged 0 to 28 days with suspected neonatal sepsis were included. Peripheral venous blood samples were collected in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and blood culture bottles. Two separate Sysmex KX-21 hematology analyzers were used to evaluate MPV. The mean of each was used as the final reading. On culture, neonatal sepsis was considered as positive for samples that yielded bacterial pathogens. The diagnostic accuracy of MPV was calculated utilizing blood culture as a gold standard.
Results: The mean age of patients was 14.52±8.31 days. There were 99(48.3%) male and 106(51.7%) female cases with a higher female to male ratio. The cutoff value of MPV was 10.2 fL. Fifty three (26%) cases were diagnosed positive for MPV and 47(23%) cases had positive blood cultures. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of MPV were 82.98%, 91.14%, 73.58%, 94.74%, and 89.27%, respectively.
Conclusion: Mean platelet volume has a high diagnostic accuracy and hence in future, this biomarker can be utilized as a diagnostic tool for rapid diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.
By Nidda Ayub, et al.