Turkish Archives of Pediatrics
Original Article

CRP/albumin ratio: A promising marker of gram-negative bacteremia in late-onset neonatal sepsis

1.

Department of Pediatrics, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

2.

Department of Neonatology, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

3.

Department of Biostatistics, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

Turk Arch Pediatr 2021; 56: 32-36
DOI: 10.14744/TurkPediatriArs.2020.99076
Read: 1976 Downloads: 567 Published: 01 January 2021

Objective: Neonatal sepsis is a clinical condition that results in serious morbidity and mortality unless urgently diagnosed and treated. Obtaining the results of blood cultures to determine the causative agent in sepsis is a time-consuming process. The CRP/albumin ratio is an inflammatory marker that has started to be used in recent years. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between CRP/albumin and Gram-negative bacterial sepsis in neonates.

Material and Methods: This study was conducted on 112 premature neonates with sepsis. The patients were divided into two groups according to culture results as Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial sepsis. The laboratory and demographic features of the patients were obtained from the hospital records. A receiver operating characteristic curve was plotted to evaluate the predictive value of the CRP/albumin ratio for Gram-negative sepsis.

Results: CRP/albumin was significantly higher in the Gram-negative group (p<0.001). According to the receiver operating characteristic curve, the optimal cut-off value of CRP/albumin for the prediction of Gram-negative sepsis was >35.17, which had a specificity of 97% and sensitivity of 56% (AUC=0.839; 95% CI: 0.743-0.944; p<0.001). A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that CRP/albumin (OR=1.082, 95% CI: 1.033-1.134, p=0.001) and absolute neutrophil count (OR=1.145, 95% CI: 1.000-1.312, p=0.049) were still associated with Gram-negative sepsis after adjustment for variables found to be statistically significant in univariate analysis and correlated with Gram-negative sepsis.

Conclusion: The CRP/albumin ratio is independently related to Gram-negative sepsis in neonatal sepsis and may be useful in predicting Gram-negative bacteremia.

Cite this article as: Güneş H, Yurttutan S, Çobanuşağı M, Doğaner A. CRP/albumin ratio: A promising marker of gram-negative bacteremia in late-onset neonatal sepsis. Turk Arch Pediatr 2021; 56(1): 32-6.

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