Role of procalcitonin,albumin and interleukin-6 levels in diagnosis of infections in preterm infants

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT),albumin (Alb) and interleukin (IL)-6levels for infections in preterm infants. Methods Total 64 cases of infections in preterm infants in neonatal intensive care unit of Department of Neonatology,Hangzhou Women's Hospital between January,2015 and April,2016 were selected as infection group,and 64 cases of non-infection premature baby in the same period were selected as control group.The levels of PCT,Alb,and IL-6 were compared,and the sensitivity and specificity of PCT,Alb,and IL-6 in the diagnosis of infections in preterm infants were evaluated. Results The levels of PCT and IL-6 in the infection group were (5.27±1.24) ng/L and (224.27±56.54) ng/L,which were significantly higher than non-infection group (0.66±0.29) ng/L and (85.31±12.13) ng/L in the control group (P<0.05);Alb level in the infection group was (24.97±6.27) g/L,which was significantly lower than (28.31±5.31) g/L in the control group (P<0.05).After the treatment,the levels of PCT and IL-6 in the infection group were significantly reduced to (0.54±0.34) ng/L and (82.47±13.84) ng/L (P<0.05);but Alb level was significantly increased to (29.45±5.83) g/L (P<0.05).The sensitivity and specificity of PCT+Alb+IL-6 in diagnosis of infections in preterm infants were significantly higher than that of single index (P<0.05). Conclusion PCT,Alb,and IL-6 could be used as clinical diagnostic indicators on infections in preterm infants,and the effect of three indicators combined were the best.Also three indicators could be used as the effective indicators to efficacy evaluation.