الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Despite improved neonatal care over the past decades, infections remain common and sometimes life threatening in neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). For many years, a search has been ongoing to find predictors of neonatal sepsis that identify effectively patients who are at risk of infection. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is present in neutrophil precursors at the myelocyte-metamyelocyte stage of maturation and concentrations are elevated in the serum of patients withacute bacterial infections. The aim of our study was to investigate whether neonatal sepsis was associated with early elevation of serum NGAL, which would help us in early and accurate diagnosis and early initiation of appropriate therapy as well as response to treatment i.e. prognosis of neonatal sepsis. This prospective case control study was conducted on 60 neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICU) of Menoufia university hospital in the period from January 2018 to January 2019; diagnosed as having sepsis and 60 neonates with no clinical signs or laboratory evidence of sepsis serving as a control group. The patient group comprised 60 newborns; 32 males (53.3%) and 28 females (46.7), with mean gestational age of (35.77±1.5 weeks), mean birth weight of (2.42+0.51 kg), 16 neonates (26.7 %) were delivered vaginally and 44 (73.3 %) were delivered by CS.The control group comprised 60 healthy newborns; 26 males (43.3%) and 34 females (56.7%), with mean gestational age of (36.17±0.78 weeks), mean birth weight of (3.0+0.45 kg), 12 (20%) neonates were delivered vaginally and 48 (80%) neonates were delivered by CS. For all neonates the following were performed; Historytaking (to detect risk factors for sepsis), thoroughClinicalexamination, laboratoryInvestigationsincluding (CBC with differential leucocytic count, CRP, Blood culture, when clinically indicated, Serum NGAL by ELISA in the 1st & 4th day of admission forcases group and one sample only for control group). Conclusion: Serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels can be used for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. NGAL levels were higher in septic than in control group.
Summary and Conclusion99Neonates with positive blood culture had higher NGAL concentrations than those with negative blood culture.NGAL concentrations were comparable in patients with bacterial or fungal blood culture.Serum NGAL can be regarded as a marker of the severity of inflammatory status as it strongly correlates with blood culture and inflammatory markers as CRP.Levels of NGAL were comparable in patients with early and late onset sepsis.Serum NGAL levels in neonatescan be used for follow-up andto evaluateprognosis of neonatal sepsis.