Hematologic Indices as Diagnostic Markers of Neonatal Sepsis: A Case-Control Study

Introduction: Neonatal sepsis is a significant cause of infant mortality, particularly in developing countries. Utilizing hematologic indices as easily accessible diagnostic markers for neonatal sepsis is considered a potential supplement to blood culture. This study investigated the association between hematologic indices and neonatal sepsis. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on a sample of infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital in southeastern Iran. Hematologic indices, including the total leukocyte count, platelet count, lymphocyte count, absolute neutrophil count, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, red blood cell distribution width (RDW), and RDW to platelet ratio, were compared between infants with positive blood culture and the control group. Results: Sixty-eight infants (34 diagnosed with neonatal sepsis and 34 controls) with a mean age of 5.51 ± 4.76 days were enrolled. Of the total positive blood culture infants, 58.8% had late-onset, and 41.2% had early-onset sepsis. The most common microorganism was Staphylococcus epidermidis (50%). Among hematologic indices, MPV was significantly higher in the sepsis group, and a cut-off point of 9.65 fL resulted in a sensitivity of 73.5% and a specificity of 58.8% in predicting neonatal sepsis. Conclusion: Overall, the present study demonstrated that among the hematologic indices, MPV can be considered a supplementary diagnostic marker of neonatal sepsis.