Comparison between D-Dimer and Highly Sensitive C-Raective Protein in Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis in Preterm Infants

AbuShady, Mariam Abd ElMoneim; ElBagoury, Iman Mohamed; Agaba, Naglaa Fathi; Abd Elwhab, Eman Ahmed

doi:/10.21608/aimj.2025.446471

Comparison between D-Dimer and Highly Sensitive C-Raective Protein in Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis in Preterm Infants

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine for Girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

² Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine for Girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

/10.21608/aimj.2025.446471

Abstract

Background: Sepsis is a predominant etiology of morbidity and mortality in neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) worldwide.
Aim: To measure D-dimer and highly sensitive C-reactive protein levels in premature infants with early and late-onset sepsis and compare them to diagnose neonatal sepsis.
Patients and methods: This case-control investigation was carried out on ninety preterm infants with a gestational age of up to 36 weeks at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Alzahraa University Hospital over a duration of one year from February 2023 to February 2024.
Results: D-dimer level was higher in EOSG with a median of 2.8 mg/l, ranging from 2.3 to 3.6, and LOSG with a median of 3.1 mg/l, ranging from 2.2 to 3.6, than in the control group with a median of 0.7 mg/l, ranging from 0.6 to 0.9, with no significant difference between EOSG and LOSG. While HS-CRP was higher in EOSG, with a median of 3.8 mg/l, ranging from 5.4 to 2.6 than in LOSG, with a median of 3.1 mg/l, ranging from 4.6 to 1.6, it was also higher in EOSG than in the control group with a median of 0.28 mg/l, ranging from 0.22 to 0.46.
Conclusion: In this study, HS-CRP was more specific and sensitive for diagnosing neonatal sepsis in preterm infants than D-dimer, although D-dimer elevated with the severity of cases with a poor prognosis; therefore, it might be used for prognosis.

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