Chapter 13

Early Neonatal Sepsis Biomarkers

Natalia Sancho-Rodríguez, Marta Sancho-Rodríguez, Irene De-Migue-Elízaga and Ana Martínez-Ruiz

Abstract

Early-onset neonatal sepsis is currently a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal period and its rapid diagnosis can help to establish an effective antibiotic treatment. The suspicion diagnosis of neonatal sepsis is based on a number of risk factors and non-specific clinical and laboratory parameters, therefore in many cases it is difficult to assess when it is the proper period to initiate antibiotic treatment. Confirmatory diagnosis depends on the results of blood cultures in the neonatal period, hence the importance of a biochemical marker that allows predicting the likelihood infection, as well as supporting the diagnosis of sepsis. Therefore identifying tools for rapid detection of neonatal sepsis is an objective of great importance in perinatal medicine, as an early and accurate diagnosis leads to an appropriate treatment thus potentially improving the final prognosis of these patients. The objective of this work is to study different markers of early neonatal sepsis, biochemical and haematological, particularly in cord blood; and establish its potential clinical usefulness. New techniques of molecular biology in cord blood are being studied in different types of samples, both blood and neonatal cord blood.

Total Pages: 371-396 (26)

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