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Background: Urine calprotectin significantly elevates in acute kidney injury (AKI) in adult and pediatric patients. The present study aimed to assess the accuracy of urine calprotectin as a diagnostic marker for (AKI) in neonates.Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed urine calprotectin in 100 neonates (80 newborns with confirmed AKI and 20 healthy ones). Random urine calprotectin was measured by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and then compared between the two groups. We included the neonates who had received at least 48 h of intravenous fluid and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to set a cut-off point for urine calprotectin for the prediction of AKI. The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient were used to assess the agreement between the two methods. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Urine calprotectin levels were not significantly higher in neonates with AKI, as compared to those in the healthy ones (146.2 versus 142.4; P=0.1). The results pointed to an optimal cut-off value of 123.5 mg/dl for urine calprotectin with the area under the curve of 0.515 (the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were obtained at 77.5%, 40%, 83.7%, and 30.7%, respectively). The overall accuracy and Kappa agreement coefficient were reported as 70% and 0.15, r (P=0.11). Conclusion: As evidenced by the results of the resent study, although urine calprotectin level elevates in AKI in neonates, it is not more sensitive than gold standards to predict AKI.

Background: Blood pressure (BP) is an important vital sign and indicator of clinical stability. Therefore, the accurate measurement and interpretation of this physiological signal is essential for the optimal management of ill newborns. In this regard, the present study aimed to determine BP values and percentiles in stable newborns in the first weeks of life and evaluate the relevant factors.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted on 320 term and preterm newborns between 26 and 42 weeks gestational age (GA) within 2015-2017. The exclusion criteria entailed: 1) birth asphyxia,2) preeclampsia, 3) gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) type I, 4) illicit substance use, and 5) major congenital anomaly. The oscillometric technique was used for BP measurement and systolic and diastolic BPs were analyzed by regression analysis for various percentiles (5th to 95th).Results: The neonates in the current study consisted of 185 (57.8%) males and 135 (42.2%) females with mean (SD) birth weight of 2058.3±582.5grams. Mean (SD) gestational age was reported as 32.95(3.97) weeks. 69.1 % of neonates were delivered via cesarean section. Percentile charts (5th- 95th values) which were developed for systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) demonstrated a steady rise on the respective days that were comparable between different groups. Term neonates were found to have higher BPs, compared to their preterm counterparts on the respective days. Moreover, the neonates who were delivered vaginally had higher mean BP values than neonates delivered via cesarean section.Conclusion: The current study provided normative BP values among neonates, especially in the first two weeks of life. Data presented in this study which include delivery-mode-specific BP percentile curves using an oscillometric method serve as a valuable reference for physicians in the management of newborns in the neonatal unit.