Back to Search Start Over

Nucleated Red Blood Cells: Could They Be Indicator Markers of Illness Severity for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Patients?

Authors :
Rozeta Sokou
Georgios Ioakeimidis
Maria Lampridou
Abraham Pouliakis
Andreas G. Tsantes
Argyrios E. Tsantes
Nicoletta Iacovidou
Aikaterini Konstantinidi
Source :
Children, Vol 7, Iss 11, p 197 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2020.

Abstract

Background: We aimed to assess whether nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) count could serve as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for morbidity and mortality in critically ill neonates. Methods: The association between NRBCs count and neonatal morbidity and mortality was evaluated in an observational cohort of critically ill neonates hospitalized in our neonatal intensive care unit over a period of 69 months. The discriminative ability of NRBCs count as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers was evaluated by performing the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Among 467 critically ill neonates included in the study, 45 (9.6%) of them experienced in-hospital mortality. No statistically significant difference was found with regards to NRBCs count between survivors and non-survivors, although the median value for NRBCs was sometimes higher for non-survivors. ROC curve analysis showed that NRBCs is a good discriminator marker for the diagnosis of perinatal hypoxia in neonates with area under the curve (AUC) [AUC 0.710; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.660–0.759] and predominantly in preterm neonates (AUC 0.921 (95% CI, 0.0849–0.0993)) by using a cut-off value of ≥11.2%, with 80% sensitivity and 88.7% specificity. NRBCs also revealed significant prognostic power for mortality in septic neonates (AUC 0.760 (95% CI, 0.631–0.888)) and especially in preterms with sepsis (AUC 0.816 (95% CI, 0.681–0.951)), with cut-off value ≥ 1%, resulting in 81.6% sensitivity and 78.1% specificity. Conclusion: NRBCs count may be included among the early diagnostic and prognostic markers for sick neonates.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
22279067
Volume :
7
Issue :
11
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Children
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.79f316c15914d6ba7ab1abb3150b3db
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/children7110197